Alaska Statehood Timeline
Anchorage Times headline “WE’RE IN” that appeared on the front page of the Anchorage paper on June 30, 1958 - the day the United States Congress gave their stamp of approval to Alaska’s bid for statehood.
1900 - Civil Code for Alaska divides state into three judicial districts, with judges at Sitka, Eagle, and St. Michael; moves capital to Juneau. White Pass railroad completed. U.S. Congress passes act to establish Washington-Cable (WAMCATS) that later becomes the Alaska Communications System (ACS).
1902 - President Theodore Roosevelt establishes Tongass National Forest; E.T. Barnette and local miners name their settlement Fairbanks.
1906 - Alaska authorized to send voteless delegate to Congress. Governor's Office moved from Sitka to Juneau.
1912 - Territorial status for Alaska provides for Legislature; Alaska Native Brotherhood organizes in Southeast; Mount Katmai explodes, forming Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.
1913 - First Alaska Territorial Legislature convenes. First law passed grants women voting rights.
1914 - Surveying begins for Alaska Railroad; City of Anchorage born as construction campsite.
1915 - Alaska Native Sisterhood holds first convention in Sitka.
1916 - First bill for Alaska statehood introduced in Congress. Alaskans vote in favor of prohibition by a 2 to 1 margin.
1918 - Congress creates Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines as a land grant college.
1920 - Anchorage organizes city government.
1922 - Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines opens. Alaska Native voting rights established through a court case.
1923 - President Warren G. Harding comes to Alaska to drive the last spike in Alaska Railroad.
1924 - Congress extends citizenship to all Native Americans and Alaska Native peoples in the United States; Tlingit William Paul, Sr. is first Native elected to Alaska Legislature. Start of airmail delivery to Alaska.
1928 - Court case resolves right of Native children to attend public school.
1929 - U.S. Navy begins 5-year survey to map parts of Alaska. Alaska Native Brotherhood convention at Haines resolves to pursue land claims settlement in Southeast Alaska.
1936 - The Indian Reorganization Act of 1935 amended to include Alaska. Nell Scott of Seldovia becomes the first woman elected to the Territorial Legislature.
1940 - Fort Richardson established; construction begins on Elmendorf Air Force Base.
1942 - Japan bombs Dutch Harbor; invades Aleutians.
1945 - Governor Gruening signs the Anti-Discrimination Act, the first such legislation passed in the United States and its possessions since post-Civil War.
1946 - Boarding school for Native high school students opens at Mt. Edgecombe.
1947 - The Alaska Command established; first unified command of the U.S. staffed by Army, Air Force, and Navy officers. First Alaska Native land claims suit, filed by Tlingit and Haida people, introduced in U.S. Court of Claims.
1948 - Alaskans vote to abolish fish traps by a 10 to 1 margin.
1953 - Oil well drilled near Eureka on Glenn Highway marks the beginning of Alaska's modern oil history; first plywood operations begin at Juneau; first big Alaskan pulp mill opens at Ketchikan. First Alaskan television broadcast by KENI, Anchorage.
1955 - Alaskans elect delegates to constitutional convention.
1955 - Constitutional Convention opens at University of Alaska.
1956 - Territorial voters adopt the Alaska Constitution; send two senators and one representative to Washington under the Tennessee Plan.
1958 - Statehood measure passes; President Eisenhower signs statehood bill.
Jan 3, 1959 – Alaska becomes the 49th State in the Union.
Source: Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED)
