Fairbanks had traces of people back to the last ice age but settlement arrived around the turn of the 20th century. The first settlers were the natives: Eskimos. Settlement was spurred by E.T. Barnett’s trading post, which was intended to be a temporary headquarters, but became permanent due to a major gold strike nearby. People came from far and wide and set up homes. The people voted to make it the city of Fairbanks and to establish Barnett as mayor. Some people gradually drifted away, but some remained there to set up permanent homes. 

The Alaska Railroad allowed powerful equipment to be brought up and continue the gold exploration on Fairbanks territory and other places. Military troops were also set up at Fairbanks during WWII and the Cold War. When Prudhoe Bay was discovered, Fairbanks was used as a pit stop for the Alaska Pipeline construction crew.

Fairbanks is located in the middle of the Tanana valley next to the Chena River that flows into the Tanana River. Just north of Fairbanks are the White Mountains; to the south are the Tanana Flats, a boggy marshland, and the Alaska Range. To the east and west are valleys, separated by hills 3,000 feet above sea level. Normally, in Fairbanks, the winters are between –15 and –25, but in extreme weather highs of 50 and lows of –60 can occur. The average temperature in the summer is 70 degrees above to 50 degrees above.

Many of the people in Fairbanks are mainly employed in government services. This is about one third of the population’s occupation. There is also a university, which employs a good portion of the public along with the mining company.

 A monument exists celebrating the first settlers of Fairbanks: the Eskimos. There is an active monument: the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the first university in Alaska located northwest of Fairbanks in a town called College but within the boundaries of Fairbanks.

E.T. Barnett was the founder of Fairbanks, but there are still others involved. To start with: Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. He purchased Alaska. The small town (back then) was named after his vice president, Charles Fairbanks, a previous senator from Indiana. Felix Pedro was responsible for the amazing discovery of gold on the premises, which brought up a great crowd of people in search of wealth. James Wickersham, who thought the town should have a good moral foundation, established the government. 

 The census taken in 2008 totaled 35,132. 66.67% whites, 13.10% blacks (African-American), 9.91% natives, 2.72% Asian, 0.54% pacific islanders, 2.45% other races, 6.57% two or more races, 6.13% Hispanic or Latino. Most of the people had a regular income of $40,577 per household $46,785 per family $30,539 for men, and $26,577 for women. Transportation, communication, manufacturing, financial and regional medical companies as well as tourism activities offer work. Education is provided by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Fairbanks North Star Borough School with an enrollment of over 14,000 students. Alaska Communication Systems runs the telephone services for Fairbanks along with AT&T and Alaska DigiTel. Satellites are used for Internet services. 

If I went to Fairbanks, I would want to visit the monument to Eskimos erected to celebrate the first Alaskan settlers. I would also like to take a tour of the El Dorado gold mine. Additionally I would visit the place where the world’s largest rechargeable battery stands. It is said to weigh approximately 1,300 tons! It is used to supply power to 12,000 homes for 7 minutes during power outages! I would have lots of fun in Fairbanks, The Golden Heart City.