Valdez Museum and Historical Archive
The museum connects the 1964 earthquake, Old Town Valdez, the trans-Alaska pipeline, the Exxon Valdez spill, transportation, and regional Indigenous history.
Artwork inspired by Rie Muñoz
Earthquake, relocation, oil, and working-port life make resilience concrete. The museum connects the 1964 earthquake, Old Town Valdez, the trans-Alaska pipeline, the Exxon Valdez spill, transportation, and regional Indigenous history. Large objects prevent the narrative from becoming only photographs and disaster dates.
Build the sequence from Old Town through relocation before approaching pipeline and spill history; geography explains each transition. The museum uses two facilities with different purposes and schedules; the Egan Drive gallery is the normal first stop. Leave enough time to connect Old Town relocation, pipeline history, and the surrounding community or ecosystem rather than reducing the place to one attraction.
- Founded
- 1901
- Main gallery
- Egan Drive
- Archive
- Hazelet Avenue
Quick guide
- Start with
- Build the sequence from Old Town through relocation before approaching pipeline and spill history; geography explains each transition.
- Look closely at
- Read Old Town relocation first, then reconsider pipeline history with that context in mind.
Know before you go
- Start with
- Build the sequence from Old Town through relocation before approaching pipeline and spill history; geography explains each transition.
- Look closely at
- Read Old Town relocation first, then reconsider pipeline history with that context in mind.
- Connect the story
- The museum connects the 1964 earthquake, Old Town, the pipeline, the Exxon Valdez spill, transportation, and Indigenous history. Large objects push the story beyond photographs and disaster dates.
- Plan around
- Allow 1½–3 hours. The museum uses two facilities with different purposes and schedules; the Egan Drive gallery is the normal first stop.
Good to know
The museum uses two facilities with different purposes and schedules; the Egan Drive gallery is the normal first stop.
Notice these
- Old Town relocation
- pipeline history
- Fresnel lens