The Matanuska Colony Community Center, also Palmer Historic District, is a cluster of buildings near the center of

Palmer, Alaska Palmer is a city in and the county seat, borough seat of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States, located northeast of Anchorage on the Glenn Highway in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Matanuska Valley. It is the List of cities in A ...

that were the centerpiece of the Depression-era Matanuska Valley Colony. This federal rural resettlement program was intended to give needy families resources and land to improve their condition. The colony's buildings were erected beginning in 1935, and those that survive represent a well-preserved example of government community planning. It is centered on a city block bounded by East Dahlia Avenue, South Valley Way, South Denali Street, and East Elmwood Avenue, and extends to the north and south. The buildings on this block are organized around a grassy quadrangle, laid out in 1935. Prominent buildings include the Palmer Depot and three churches, located in the block just southeast of the quadrangle, one of which, the United Protestant Church, is a distinctive log structure. The colony's Central School, now added to several times, houses the offices of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The area was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1991.

Demographics

The Matanuska Valley Colony Community Center was returned on the 1940 U.S. Census as the Alaska Railroad Colony Community Center (unincorporated). It had a population of 94. It has since been annexed into the city of Palmer.

References

Buildings and structures completed in 1940 Buildings and structures in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska {{Alaska-NRHP-stub

Demographics

See also

References