(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Fairbanks Alaska is a Home Rule City in the Fairbanks North Star Borough of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state. It is the principal city of the 'Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Fairbanks North Star Borough. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 31,324. The population of Fairbanks and vicinity is 82,840. Fairbanks is home to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the oldest college in Alaska.

Geography
Fairbanks is located in the heart of Alaska's Interior, on both shores of the Chena River, near its confluence with the Tanana River in the Tanana Valley. By air, Fairbanks is 45 minutes from Anchorage and 3 hours from Seattle. It lies 358 road miles (576 km) or a 5.5 hour drive north of Anchorage.

Climate
The Interior, home of Fairbanks and Denali National Park, has some of the most extreme weather in the world with rapid temperature swings, thunderstorms with hail and lightning and snow in the summer.

Winters are very long, lasting from late September to mid-April. They are very cold and dry, with temperatures sometimes dipping down to -65 °F (-53.9 °C). Often the temperature is below zero Fahrenheit (-17.8 °C) for entire months. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Fairbanks was -66 °F (-54.4 °C) on January 14, 1934. The average January low is -19 °F (-28.3 °C) and the average January high is -2 °F (-18.8 °C).

Winter snowfall averages around 67.40 inches per year. During the winter months, if the temperature drops below -20 °F (-28.9 °C), ice fog can occur.

The summers are usually very warm, with temperatures often reaching into the 80s °F and sometimes reaching into the 90s °F. The average July low is 53 °F (11.6 °C) and the average July high is 72 °F (22.2 °C). The highest temperature ever recorded in Fairbanks was 99 °F (37.2 °C) on July 28, 1919.

Thunderstorms with hail and lightning can occur in summer. August and September can be rainy, and snow often starts falling in September. The average rainfall is 10.34 inches per year.

Fairbanks is known for its lingering summer days. The sun is up for 21 hours and 49 minutes on the 21st of June with 24 hours of usable daylight. In summer the local golf clubs have all night golfing. Conversely, the sun is up for 3 hours and 42 minutes on the 21st of December with 6 hours and 33 minutes of usable daylight.

History
Before Fairbanks was founded, Koyukon Athabaskans lived, fished, and hunted along the shores of the Tanana River for thousands of years. The Tanana and other rivers also served as trade routes with other Athabaskans and Inuit.

In the early 1900s, prospectors from the Klondike spread out into various parts of Alaska in search of gold. In August, 1901 a trader named E. T. Barnette chartered the riverboat Lavelle Young to transport a large load of merchandise to the gold fields near Tanacross. He was forced to disembark near the present site of First Avenue and Cushman Street on the Chena River because the Chena was too shallow to follow further upstream and the Tanana River was impassable. There Barnette established the trading post "Barnette's Cache." Two prospectors looking for gold in the hills north of Barnette's trading post saw the smoke from the steamboat and came down to investigate. They were out of supplies and thought they could get some from the steamboat. These prospectors were Felix Pedro (alias Felice Pedroni) an Italian immigrant, and Tom Gilmore. Less than a year later, in July, 1902, Felix Pedro discovered gold 16 miles (25 km) north of the post. This started a gold rush as outfitters and other merchants, in turn, sought to make money selling supplies to the many prospectors coming into the area. The town grew as prospectors made their way to the gold fields via the Chena steamboat landing. Barnette, initially unhappy to find himself far from the proven gold fields, nonetheless stayed put when Pedro and other prospectors came to camp to trade. Within a few years, Fairbanks became the largest city in Alaska (Anchorage is much larger now).

In 1903, territorial judge James Wickersham moved his offices of the Third Judicial District from Eagle to Fairbanks. That November, Fairbanks was incorporated as a city and named after popular Indiana senator Charles W. Fairbanks, soon to become Vice President under Teddy Roosevelt from 1905–1909. With the addition of the court, government offices, a jail, a post office, and the Northern Commercial Company, Barnette was elected mayor and set about to create a first-rate town replete with telephone service, fire protection, sanitation ordinances, electric lights and steam heat. Barnette also founded the Washington-Alaska Bank. By 1910, the official population had grown to 3,541, although more than 6,000 miners lived and worked their claims on creeks north of town.

The construction of the Richardson Highway in 1911, the Alaska Railroad in 1923, and the use of riverboats along the Tanana River established Fairbanks as a commercial center for interior Alaska.

Charles W. Fairbanks, the namesake for the city. The Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines opened its doors in College, near Fairbanks, in 1917. The school grew quickly, and in 1935 became the University of Alaska. The University of Alaska system has since expanded to include other campuses and the original campus is now called University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Midday view of Fairbanks and Alaska Range on 2005 winter solstice. During World War II two United States military bases, Ladd Field and Eielson Air Force Base, were constructed in the Fairbanks area (1938) to aid in sending aircraft and supplies to the USSR and the Russian-controlled Far East for the Lend-Lease program. City hostess Eva McGown was famous locally for extending hospitality to the soldiers and spouses who spent time in Fairbanks during these decades. During the Cold War Ladd Field became a U.S. Army base, Fort Wainwright. These bases brought additional jobs to the Fairbanks area and brought military personnel, some of whom stayed and became residents of the area after finishing their military service. Construction of the Alaska Highway in the 1940s combined to fuel growth and development. Many of the workers stayed at the Fairbanks Hotel, one of which was Paul E. Baker. The Fairbanks Hotel existed until its demolition in 2005.

Since its beginning, Fairbanks has been the commercial center for Interior Alaska. Fairbanks is now at the intersection of the Richardson Highway, the Alaska Railroad, the Steese Highway, the Elliott Highway and the George Parks Highway, completed in 1975. These connect it to Anchorage, Canada and the lower 48 states. The Dalton Highway, opened in 1974, connects Fairbanks to the industrial supply center of Deadhorse at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean. Fairbanks area has an international airport, two military airports and many private airstrips. Goods are transported to and from Fairbanks by truck, air, and rail.

Fairbanks was the construction hub for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in 1975-1977, and the city became the scene of lively parties and a construction boom as people flocked to the "new gold rush".

Pioneer Park, originally built for the Alaska Purchase Centennial Celebration in 1967 contains museums, the riverboat Nenana, and many old buildings moved there from around the Fairbanks area. The Palace Theatre and Saloon in the park gives a musical presentation of the history of Fairbanks. Pioneer Park was formerly known as "Alaskaland" and many residents still refer to it by that name. After all, the park is about Alaska rather than pioneers, and the instances where pioneers come into play, those pioneers are undoubtedly involved chiefly with Alaska.

Transportation and Economy
Fairbanks is at the confluence of the Richardson Highway, George Parks Highway, Steese Highway, and Elliott Highway, connecting the Interior to Anchorage, Canada, and the lower 48 states. The Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay begins about 75 miles (about 120 km) north of town. Goods are transported to Fairbanks by truck, air, and the Alaska Railroad. Regularly scheduled jet flights are available at the state-owned Fairbanks International Airport. An 11,800-foot (3,597 meter) asphalt runway, heliport, and seaplane landing strip are available. A public seaplane base is also located on the Chena River. In addition, there are several privately owned airstrips and heliports in the vicinity.

Fairbanks was a major shipping center via waterway for the rest of the Interior, but in modern times water transportation is primarily recreational or used for subsistence hunting and fishing access.

As the regional service and supply center for the Alaska Interior, Fairbanks offers a diverse economy, including city, borough, state, and federal government services; and transportation, communication, manufacturing, financial, and regional medical services. Tourism and mining also comprise a significant part of the economy. Including Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright personnel, over one third of the employment is in government services. The University of Alaska Fairbanks is also a major employer. Approximately 325,000 tourists visit Fairbanks each summer. The Fort Knox hardrock gold mine produces 1,200 ounces daily with 360 permanent year-round employees. 126 city residents hold commercial fishing permits.

Fairbanks News
  Alaska Sen. Stevens' trial on federal charges moved to Sept. 22
FAIRBANKS -- Sen. Ted Stevens' trial for failing to disclose more than $250,000 in gifts and home remodeling from oil services company VECO Corp. and its chief executive Bill Allen has been moved up two days to Sept. 22 in Washington, D.C.

  Alaska Mechanical fined over deaths of workers at Nome mine
FAIRBANKS -- A contractor was fined $115,000 for safety violations related to the July 2007 death of two ironworkers during construction at Alaska Gold Co.?s Rock Creek Mine in Nome.

  Soldier with Fairbanks ties dies in Iraq
DILLON, Mont. -- A Montana soldier with Alaska ties has died in Iraq, from injuries not related to combat, the Department of Defense said.

  Soldier with links to Alaska dies in Iraq
DILLON, Mont. - A Montana soldier with Fairbanks ties has died in Iraq from injuries not related to combat, the Department of Defense said.

  Lawsuit against city, police chief moves to federal court
FAIRBANKS ? A lawsuit against the city of Fairbanks, its police chief and its deputy chief was moved to federal court.

  Borough sues group to eliminate ballot measure
FAIRBANKS ? The Fairbanks North Star Borough has asked a state judge to erase a tax-related measure from ballots in this fall?s local government election.

  Politics finds its niche at the Tanana Valley State Fair
FAIRBANKS ? While many vendors and concessionaires at the Tanana Valley Fair are just after visitors? money, volunteers working at political booths are only after a few minutes of their time.

  Troopers increase presence at fair after 20-person scuffle
FAIRBANKS ? Alaska State Troopers have been making more rounds at the Tanana Valley State Fair since what one trooper called a ?melee? involving at least 20 people was reported there Sunday night.

  Identity of Fairbanks woman killed in fire not yet released
FAIRBANKS ? The identity of a woman found unconscious in her smoke-filled Northward Building apartment Tuesday evening, and who died despite efforts of emergency medical treatment at the scene, has not yet been publicly named, pen... continues

  City addresses questions over annexation
FAIRBANKS ? The city?s annexation meeting boded well as far as clearing up confusion about the legalese in the drafted proposal, but how the community feels about being annexed is still a cloudy issue after Wednesday evening.