PRESIDENT & FIRST LADY WELCOMED TO ANCHORAGE
Anchorage, Alaska Territory (JFK+50) On July 15, 1923, The Sunday Star reports President Warren G. Harding was welcomed here in Anchorage yesterday by "several hundred people" who gathered "around a stand in the center of the city."
The President and First Lady were given a painting of Mount McKinley*, North America's highest peak. Mr. Harding was also presented with a paper knife with gold nugget handle and a walrus-ivory blade.
The President, speaking briefly, noted that Anchorage**, founded in 1915, "is the best nine-year-old town I have ever seen."
*Mount McKinley (Denali) has a summit elevation of 20,310 feet & is located in the Alaska Range. MM/D is the centerpiece of Denali National Park & Preserve
**Anchorage is Alaska's most populated city. Located in the south-central part of the state it boasts 40% of the state's population today. It was incorporated in 1920.
SOURCE
"Welcome Harding In Alaska Town," The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., July 15, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
