Valdez Museum

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The Valdez Museum on Egan, located just two blocks from most hotels in Valdez, is a long-standing favorite of Valdez visitors. Exhibits about our community’s past tell the stories of early exploration, native culture, gold rush, founding of Valdez, the Richardson Highway, the history of the pipeline, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, and the history of Alaska Bush pilots. On display here are two beautifully restored turn-of-the-century fire engines, a lighthouse lens from Prince William Sound, and re-creations of a prospector’s cabin and an early Valdez parlor.

Health care is a central service that Valdez has always tried to provide for residents. Over the years, health care has been provided here in a variety of ways. Valdez was established in 1898 as a gold rush tent city and rapidly grew into a bustling turn-of-the-century American city.

Copper Center is located at the confluence of the Klutina and Copper Rivers, 100 miles north of Valdez. Valdez and Copper Center were both founded in 1898 during the gold rush.

Once the rush to the Klondike subsided, prospectors concentrated on the gold, copper, and silver deposits on the islands and shores of Prince William Sound. The most profitable mines in the vicinity of Valdez were the Cliff Gold Mine and the Midas Mine. In 1906, H.E. (Red) Ellis discovered and then leased out what was to become the Cliff Gold Mine about five miles east of Valdez on the north shore of Port Valdez. That mine resulted in about 51,740 oz. of gold (about $19 million in current prices) and 8,153 oz. of silver.

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