| There was not a lot to
see in Valdez. It rained all day on the 4th July. The campsites were all
completely booked to overflowing. Apart from the fishing it was difficult to
see the attraction. This is one of the 70 Whispering Giants carved by
Peter Toth. This 30ft carving is 10ft in diameter and weighs 85000lbs. It
was carved in 1980 from Sitka spruce. |  |
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Valdez has a museum. Reeve Airways was one of the pioneers out here. This is
only a model. |
| This Ahrens steam fire
pump was purchased by the newly incorporated town in 1907. It cost $7800 and
a further $25000 to restore it in the 1980s. |  |
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A patchwork throw in a room setting, but with an unusual choice of fabrics. |
| Alaska has 11 different
ethnic groups who speak over 25 different languages. Details of these
fascinate us. |  |
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Native wood carving by an artist from Cordova. The designs are Tlingit.. |
| A piece of baleen for
which whales were hunted. They were used to make stays for women's corsets. |  |
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A statue commemorating the building of the Alaska pipeline which runs 800
miles up to Prudhoe Bay from here. The steel all came from Japan. It was
completed in 1977 and cost $8billion. Over 2 billion barrels of oil have
flowed through it since then (figures to 2000). |
| This reminder of the
fishing industry here was built in 1939 and is on display outside the
museum. |  |
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An annex houses a model of the town as it was before the 1964 'Good Friday'
earthquake (the second largest on record at 9.2 on the Richter scale). |
| The town was badly
damaged and, as it was discovered that it had been built on unstable land,
it was moved 4 miles west and completely rebuilt, although some of the
original buildings were moved to the new site. |  |
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The 1921 Model T chemical fire engine. This was the town's first self
propelled fire truck. |
| History for Americans - a
1950s 'prom' dress. |  |
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The modern day coastguard which patrols these waters, mainly on fisheries
protection. |
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