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Top Attractions in Seward

Alaska SeaLife Center

The Alaska SeaLife Center, Alaska’s premier public aquarium and Alaskas only permanent marine mammal rehabilitation facility, is located on the shores of Resurrection Bay in Seward in the U.S. state of Alaska. Open since May 1998, it is dedicated to understanding and maintaining the integrity of the marine ecosystem of Alaska through research, rehabilitation, conservation, and public education. It is the only facility in the world specifically dedicated to studying the northern marine environment and the only one designed at the outset to combine research with public education and visitor components. The Alaska SeaLife Center generates and shares scientific knowledge to promote understanding and stewardship of Alaskas marine ecosystems. The Alaska SeaLife Center project cost $55 million; Exxon Valdez oil spill settlement funds made up the $37.5 million portion of funds dedicated to research and rehabilitation. An additional $12 million was raised by selling bonds, and $1.1 million was raised locally through private donations. The Alaska SeaLife Center is a private, non-profit corporation with approximately 105 full-time employees and a staff of volunteers and interns. In September 2011, the Alaska SeaLife Center was granted accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This acknowledgment places the ASLC in the top tier of their field as less than 5% of the nations 6000 zoos and aquariums currently have this standard of certification.

Hoben Park

Hoben Park is a city park on the waterfront of Seward, Alaska. It is bounded by the Alaska Sealife Center, the Seward Depot, Railroad Avenue, and Resurrection Bay. The parks north and west sides have a decorative concrete wall, part of which is original to the parks 1923 construction date. The park has been generally restored to its 1920s appearance, although the north side has been shortened due to road widening. Construction of park formed a major part of the citys self-promotion as the "Gateway to Alaska", and was timed to be finished in time for the visit to the city by President Warren G. Harding on July 13, 1923, when completion of the Alaska Railroad was celebrated. The park is named for Hedley V. "Harry" Hoben, a prominent local citizen who was mayor in 1918-19. Hoben promoted the park and paid for its maintenance until his death in 1948. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Brown & Hawkins Store

Brown & Hawkins is a general store in Seward, Alaska. It was founded in 1904 to serve the town and those constructing of the Alaska Central Railroad, and is the oldest continuously operating business in Seward. It announced in 2013 that the owners were retiring without finding anyone to buy their business. Brown & Hawkins was a business venture between partners Charles E. Brown of Montreal, Canada and T.W. Hawkins of Roanoke, Virginia. The two men met in Nome during the Gold Rush. They first started business together in Valdez in 1900 before moving to Seward in 1903. Their business in Seward included a store and bank. Brown & Hawkins is still owned by the Hawkins family, making it the oldest store in Alaska under the same ownership. The original Mosler safe and brass cash register are displayed in the store.

Government Cable Office

The Government Cable Office at 218 Sixth Street in Seward, Alaska, United States, is a historic building that served as a telegraph office that connected Seward with communications in the rest of the United States. The cable office was constructed in 1905 by the U.S. Army Signal Corps as part of the Washington–Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System . Telegraph service from the lower states first connected to Valdez, Alaska. In summer 1905, submarine cable was extended from Valdez to Seward. The first message over the line was to A. C. Frost, president of the Alaska Central Railway, who was in Chicago: "This first message transmitted over Alaska Cable connects Seward from this day to the great city of Chicago." Among initial regular users of the telegraph line was the local newspaper, the Seward Daily Gateway. In August 1905, owner Frank Ballaine began featuring the previous day's news from the Coterminous United States in his paper. Before the telegraph line, outside news arrived via steam ship days or weeks later. The office was operated by Army personnel. The front room of the building was open to the public who could send and receive messages. The central part of the ground floor served as the operator's station, while workers lived on the second floor. Service continued until an earthquake severed the line in 1934. By that time, radio communication had been established by the Navy and the telegraph line was not replaced. The government retained ownership until 1961. Since then, the building has served as a private residence and rented apartments.

Lowell Creek Diversion Tunnel

The Lowell Creek Diversion Tunnel is a flood control project located in Seward, Alaska, United States. The project was constructed to alleviate flooding of Lowell Creek in Seward. It was the first flood control project completed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Alaska. Originally, Lowell Creek ran through Seward along what is now Jefferson Street. Beginning with the town's establishment in 1903, the fast-moving stream produced one to three severe floods a year until the tunnel was built in 1939. The floods carried large amounts of debris from the mountains; one flood deposited 10,000 cubic yards in an 11-hour period in 1935. In 1927 the Alaska Railroad constructed a small diversion dam and flume to carry debris down Jefferson Street to drain into Resurrection Bay. However, by 1937 these structures had deteriorated beyond repair. Consequently, the Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the new project in August 1939. The project consisted of: a diversion dam, 400 feet in length and up to 25 feet high that diverted the creek away from its original path; a tunnel through Bear Mountain, 2,068 feet in length and 10 feet in width; an outlet flume, 109 feet in length and 10 feet in width which drains into Resurrection Bay. Completed in 1940, this system withstood the 1964 Alaska earthquake, as well as severe floods in 1966, 1986, and 1995, which brought the water level within inches of cresting the dam. Though the project has prevented significant flooding of the city of Seward, debris continues to accumulate at the outlet of the flume and the city must work to move the debris further into the bay. With the significant risk of debris accumulation during a flooding event, new projects are being considered to replace the diversion tunnel — including construction of a new, wider tunnel through Bear Mountain at a cost of $30 million, or an aqueduct underneath Jefferson Street.

Alaska Nellie's Homestead

Alaska Nellie's Homestead, located at Mile 23 of the Seward Highway in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, is the former homestead of Nellie Neal Lawing. Neal Lawing had migrated to Alaska in 1915 and ran a number of roadhouses for the Alaska Railroad before settling at the Roosevelt roadhouse on Kenai Lake in 1923, where she built her homestead. She planned to marry Kenneth Holden after settling, but he died in an industrial accident before their marriage; his cousin Billie Lawing then proposed to her, and the two married. A post office opened in the area in 1924; Nellie was the first postmistress, and the post office was named Lawing in her honor. Nellie was a wildlife expert and trophy hunter, and she kept her hunting trophies, which included three bears, in the roadhouse. She was also known to keep pet bear cubs outside her home. The homestead became a popular lodge due to Nellie's wildlife lectures, and it attracted guests such as Will Rogers, Alice Calhoun, and Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. After Billie died in 1936, Nellie continued to operate the lodge and roadhouse until her death in 1956. The roadhouse was destroyed in the 1960s, likely by the rising waters of Kenai Lake after the 1964 Alaska earthquake. The homestead was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975; at the time, only the homestead and a number of outbuildings still stood at the site. The homestead was used as a tourist shop in the 1970s and later became a bed and breakfast; however, it was eventually vacated. In 1998, the Alaska Association for Historic Preservation listed the site as one of the ten most endangered historic properties in the state.

Seward Depot

The Seward Depot is a former rail depot in Seward, Alaska, United States. The depot was constructed in 1917 at what is now Adams Street and Ballaine Boulevard to serve the railroad line. Seward was and remains the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad. The Seward line was owned by the Alaska Central Railroad, the Alaska Northern Railroad, and at the time of the depot's construction, the U.S. government. President Warren G. Harding visited Seward and Alaska in 1923, and following completion of the Mears Memorial Bridge, drove the ceremonial golden spike at Nenana, connecting Seward with Fairbanks. In 1928 the building was moved to its current location on Railway Avenue following a flood of Lowell Creek. Much of the railyard in Seward and the track north along the Turnagain Arm were destroyed in the Good Friday earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that hit the town, and the depot was out of use. It served as the headquarters for the Alaska Marine Highway's M/V Tustumena for a time. In 1998 it was sold to the Chugach Alaska Corporation after the corporation completed renovations, and the building served as a native cultural center for three years. It is currently leased to the Alaska SeaLife Center, who plan to establish a library in the building. Hoben Park, also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is adjacent to the depot. Both are located at the southernmost point in Seward.
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