The History of Pioneer Park

The idea for Pioneer Park began in 1955 at a Fairbanks Golden Days Celebration Committee meeting, and Robert Sheldon of Pioneers of Alaska Fairbanks Igloo No. 4 brought it to the Fairbanks Pioneer Igloos as a historic attraction for tourists and residents. In 1962, the project became a 42 acre parcel of land leased by the State of Alaska to a Park Committee made up of the Fairbanks Igloos of the Pioneers of Alaska and the Tanana-Yukon Historical Society, with the University of Alaska as trustee, and articles of incorporation for Pioneer Memorial Park, Inc. were submitted in July with the park named Pioneer Park. Before the April 1963 groundbreaking, early donations included the Tanana Valley Railroad Locomotive No. 1, the Harding Railcar, and the Riverboat Nenana. In 1965, the nonprofit Alaska 67-Centennial Exposition leased the park after Fairbanks was chosen by the state Alaska Centennial Commission as the official celebration site, and development for the 1967 Centennial Exposition added the Civic Center, the Railroad, the Entrance Gates, many more buildings, attractions, and a zoo. By June 1967, the State of Alaska, A-67 Committee, City of Fairbanks, and Pioneer Park Board were negotiating to find another organization to run the park, and the A-67 Committee renamed it Alaskaland. After heavy rains on August 14, 1967 caused a massive flood that covered the A-67 site with more than 9 feet of water, and with substantial debt from the expo, the City of Fairbanks took over operation of Alaskaland. In the early 1970s, the Fairbanks North Star Borough formed with a Parks and Recreation department and commission, and on July 8, 1987, title was transferred to the borough, which assumed management. After studies in the following years concluded that the name Alaskaland suggested an amusement park rather than the historic place visitors found there, the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly voted on October 25, 2001 to restore the original name, Pioneer Park. Its attractions have changed over time, but it remains a place where Fairbanks history is celebrated and enjoyed by residents and visitors of all ages.

Fairbanks, Alaska · United States