Homer, Alaska

Homer spit with the Kachemak Bay and snowy peaks.

Homer has a number of hotel-motel accommodations, from economy to deluxe. Cabins and bed and breakfasts are also available in and out of town. There are city and private camping area on the spit as well as in the city limits (check for fees and time limit). Restaurants, bars and grocery stores catering to every taste. Homer is know for its artists and craftspeople. Many fine items - pottery, jewelry, woven articles, furniture, baskets, paintings and much more- are available in galleries and stores. Musicians and composers abound in Homer and keep toes tapping and folks lighthearted.

Homer's paved airport accommodates both commercial and private aircraft. Float planes use Beluga Lake. The boat harbor is on the spit. Car rentals and taxi service are offered. Shuttle service between town and the spit is available.

The Alaska state ferry system service Seldovia, Kodiak, Seward, Port Lions, Valdez and Cordova from Homer. Call (907)235-8449 for the Homer ferry office or toll free in Alaska, 800-642-0066. The toll free number in the lower 48 states in 800-544-2251.

The 911 telephone number will put you in touch with police, fire department, ambulance or state troopers. South Peninsula Hospital number is 235-8101.

The Homer visitor information center is open from May through Labor Day on the Spit. Also located on the spit is the Homer Chamber Halibut Derby office.

Alaska Maritime National wildlife Refuge headquarters and visitor center is at 509 Sterling Highway.

The areas major industry is commercial fishing but tourism is an important supplement, and the two industries thrive side by side in the Homer Small Boat Harbor.

Summer or winter there is no end of interesting activities and challenging sports and breathtaking scenery to enjoy around Homer. Recreational and cultural opportunities are as varied as fishing for king salmon off Yukon Island in mid-winter and enjoying modern dance during the summer theater season.

Coal gave birth to the settlement in the 1890s. Homer Pennock, an adventurer and con man, arrived by ship with 75 men and one woman. He had plans to mine the beach sands from Homer to Ninilchik. The company built living quarters on the spit, utilizing some abandoned buildings and a wrecked ship. They applied for a post office, needed a name and casually, it seems, decided to call it Homer after Homer Pennock.

Most of the coal miners left Homer soon after but in 1900 Cook Inlet Coal fields Company built a town and a dock on the spit, complete with a railroad to the mines, a distance of more than 7 miles. That company also shut down and Homer's population dwindled until fishermen and homesteaders started arriving around the 1920s.

Agriculture, stock raising, fox farming, trapping, fishing and fish processing kept the settlers going. Even when coal ceased to be important commercially, it provided fuel for the home fires. After statehood, Homer was incorporated as a first class city with a mayor, city manager and city council.

Kenai Peninsula College, a unit of the University of Alaska Anchorage has programs that range form literacy and high school diploma programs to continuing education, business and processional development seminars, from job training certification and associate degrees to upper-division and graduate classes.

Homer has 17 historic buildings, many built with logs and each with a story to tell. All but one may be seen downtown on Pioneer Avenue, Main Street, Bartlett Street or Olsen Lane. The exception is the Salty Dawg Saloon out on the Homer Spit. This complex, a favorite with photographers, is made up of three small lot structures relocated to their present site after the 1964 earthquake. The tower originally housed a water tank and the bar may have been a grocery store, a post office and offices of the Cook Inlet Coal Fields Company. The smallest building, formerly the Salty Pup, may have served as an early Homer post office. The third building is said to have been a schoolhouse and was trucked to the Spit in the late 1950s.

Other historical buildings range from a tiny log cabin built in 1927 for a post office, to a sprawling two-story structure, the Inlet Inn/Driftwood Inn that incorporates a number of old buildings, including a school house, residence, the town's first cold storage plant and early hotel.

The beach on the Homer Spit offers prime bird watching opportunities. Clarion file photo

Much activity centers on the Homer Spit where you can clam, fish, play on the beach, watch boats come and go, eat, stay overnight, shop and get a glimpse of commercial fishing in season.

Homer is considered the capital of Pacific Halibut Sportfishing, nearly 60% of the entire sport catch comes from this region, as stated by a study by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. The Homer Chamber of Commerce Halibut Derby makes halibut fishing lucrative for lucky anglers and participants are urged to purchase their daily ticket to enter. Thousands of dollars and other prizes are awarded for the first, second, third and fourth biggest fish of each summer month and for overall big winners. Tagged fish carry $500 to $1000 each. In addition four $10,000 fish are also tagged for specific months. You can charter boats to take you fishing in Kachemak Bay or beyond, Charter operators supply fishing gear and bait.

You can also charter to go clam digging across the bay or sightseeing in the blue waters of Kachemak Bay. Yacht races and sailboat charters are available too.

Small ferries run daily, Memorial Day to Labor Day (or as announced), from Homer, hesitating at Gull Island to allow passengers to observe and photograph puffins, guillemots, kittiewakes, urres, cormorants, gulls or other birds that may be in sight, then continuing on to Halibut Cove or Seldovia. A trail leads from the Halibut cove to Leisure lake (China Poot Lake). A park brochure and trail map are available from the Alaska State Park's South district Homer office.

The Center for Alaska Coastal Studies, a non-profit group, offers tours to its main station near Peterson Bay. Nature walks and tide pool exploration are featured.

Homer's Pratt Museum is a favorite stop for fans of art and natural history. Clarion file photo

The Pratt Museum, on Bartlett Street off Pioneer Avenue, focuses on the natural and cultural history of southcentral Alaska. Exhibits include artifacts from the area's earliest prehistoric peoples to modern inhabitants. Aquariums and a touch tank feature live Kachemak Bay sea creatures. Feedings are at 4 pm and families are encourage to attend.

Also on exhibit are remote video cameras that visitors can operate to view life on a seabird rookery and on a river where brown bears congregate to feed on spawning salmon.

There are many other exhibits including changing exhibits of locally renowned artists and others from the Pacific Northwest, outdoor exhibits, botanical garden, quilt collection, Exxon Valdez oil spill and other.

A multitude of entertainment possibilities will entice Homer's visitors, not only in summer but throughout the year. From touring professionals to local amateurs, Homer vibrates with the work of actors, singers, dancers, mimes, and folk, rock 'n' roll and classical musicians. Call the Homer Council on the Arts (235-4288) or check the Homer News to find out what programs might be happening during your stay.