GREENWICH, N.Y. — Alaska is probably not the first state that comes to mind when thinking about American agriculture. However, in the 1930s an adventurous New Deal program sought to help struggling farmers get a new start by farming in Alaska’s Matanuska Valley. Read on to learn about the Matanuska Valley Colony.
American farmers had been facing difficult circumstances by the time the Great Depression began in 1929. Overproduction and low commodity prices caused financial struggles throughout the 1920s. The onset of droughts in parts of the country in the 1930s created the Dust Bowl adding further struggles and forcing many farmers out of business.
To aid suffering Americans, President Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented the New Deal which was a series of programs that sought to provide relief to the American people, help the economy recover, and reform economic and business institutions to prevent future depressions. One initiative formed to help downtrodden farmers was the Resettlement Administration (RA).
In this program, government-built communities were established to move farmers and workers who were displaced by depression and drought. The goal of these communities was to move farmers to better farmland enabling them to restart their lives and livelihoods. The program also sought to give tenant farmers the chance to work their own land for the first time. RA communities provided families with housing and acreage for gardening or farming. The size and specific ventures of each community varied. Some consisted of only a few houses, while others were entirely new towns. Some were meant for large-scale farming while others had more of an industrial focus. In the course of its existence, nearly 15,000 families would be resettled as a result of the program.
The most famous of these resettlement communities was the Matanuska Valley Colony established in the Alaska territory in 1935. The idea for an Alaskan farming colony came largely from a Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) architect named David Williams. The establishment of an RA community in Alaska was done not only for relief purposes but also for strategic reasons.
Though Alaska had been a U.S. territory since 1867, the region’s population remained low apart from Native American tribes, miners, loggers, and railroad operators. This low population meant much of Alaska’s resources needed to be imported, and a farming RA settlement was seen as a way to make the territory more self-sufficient. Another reason was to respond to Japan’s increasing expansion in the Pacific region. Japan was a growing military threat during the 1930s, and the Department of Defense had designs to form more military bases in Alaska. A farming colony would help supply these bases.
After President Roosevelt approved the project in the spring of 1935, plans began to take shape. 80,000 acres of public land were withdrawn from homestead entry and set aside for the project. The rail depot of Palmer in the Matanuska Valley was selected to be the headquarters of the project. Located about 40 miles north of Anchorage, the Matanuska Valley is a broad and flat region surrounded by the Alaska, Talkeetna, and Chugach Mountain ranges and is a drainage basin for the Knik and Matanuska rivers. Offering mineral-rich, glacier-treated soil, and more moderate temperatures and weather conditions because of the mountains, the region had some of the best farmable land in Alaska. Though the Alaska Railroad had promoted the region for settlement in the decades prior, little had occurred.
Selected to become colonists in the Matanuska Valley were 203 families from the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and one family from Oklahoma. Individuals from the upper Midwest were chosen because administrators felt that the climate of the area most closely resembled the conditions in Alaska. Using the same reasoning it was also suggested that families of Scandinavian descent be chosen when possible. Other preferred qualities were farming experience, applicable trade skills such as carpentry or machinery, age, and size of family.
In April and May 1935 colonists made their way to Palmer by rail and ship. The contingent from Minnesota arrived first on May 10, 1935. A little more than a week later the Wisconsinites and Michiganders arrived. The whole project and the colonists themselves received much attention. As opposed to other RA communities which were built near already-established farming areas, the Matanuska colonists traveled thousands of miles away to start a new town in a region that was still largely wilderness. The prospect of these “modern-day pioneers” settling in the wilds of Alaska made for an exciting story for a nation in need of good news. Colonists were celebrated throughout their travels and news outlets closely followed the progress of the colony throughout its existence. Even a Broadway play called “200 Were Chosen” was written about the Matanuska colony and had a five-week run in NYC.
Upon arrival, colonists lived in a large temporary tent encampment while home construction happened. Outfitted with a stove and cots the tents could comfortably hold five individuals, but offered little privacy from other families. Mud and mosquitos were also constant nuisances in the encampment. Around 400 transient Works Progress Administration workers from California and Washington were hired to construct the tents, houses, and community buildings. These workers lived in Palmer along with the colonists.
The colony’s total acreage was divided into 208 tracts of land: 144 40-acre plots, 52 80-acre plots, and others set aside for future use. On May 23, 1935, a drawing was held to determine which plot a family would receive. After the drawing, a good deal of exchange happened as colonists sought to secure the plot they wanted. To pay for the plots, colonists received a loan to purchase the land and farm supplies which needed to be repaid at a later date.
After securing a plot, work began to clear the land and build homes. Colonists had the choice of five home designs, each of which featured a similar design with two to three bedrooms, a combined kitchen and living room, and a root cellar. Farms also included a barn, chicken coop, wellhouse, outhouse, and shed.
However, problems beset the colony at the start. First, different government agencies cycled control of leadership of the colony leading to confusion about who was in authority and the project’s aims. Eventually, the Alaskan Rural Rehabilitation Corporation (ARRC), a division of FERA, took the lead on the project. Logistical problems caused mistakes and delays in materials and supply shipments. For instance, perishable foods sometimes arrived spoiled, and at one point school desks and other supplies arrived long before a school was even built. There were also tensions between transient workers and colonists. At first, only WPA workers were allowed to work on building projects upsetting colonists since they were not allowed to work on what would be their own homes. This rule was eventually done away with.
The first year was difficult as the construction of homes suffered delays and colonists struggled to find their footing in the new territory. A combination of factors including frustrations over building delays and organization, an inability to adjust, poor health, and a lack of farming experience led to the departure of over 100 of the original 203 families by the end of 1935. Throughout the next few years, 80 new families were enlisted to replace the original colonists who left. Despite the setbacks progress continued and all the colonists’ homes were completed by October 1935.
After working gardens and small plots the year before organized farming in the Matanuska Valley started in 1936. Like the construction process, farming had a difficult start. Clearing land for farming was a slow and arduous task. Though most of the area had good soil, it was discovered that the valley possessed sections of gravel. But the colonists slowly learned the land and were soon growing a variety of cold-weather crops like hay, oats, and grains. One colonist wrote to a friend in September 1935, “Will I must say that I am convinced that things can be grown in Alaska. I have seen the most wonderful head lettuce, parsnip, carrots, cabbage, etc. & flowers only they don’t seem to grow until August. Can you imagine the haying starts right now and won’t be done for a week yet. They don’t do any fall planting here.”
Vegetables became important crops and the colonists discovered that Alaska’s unique conditions made for great vegetable growing. Alaska’s summer growing season is short lasting only around 90 days, but it features long sunlight hours that last up to 20 hours at times of the year. The prolonged sunlight created bigger-than-average produce. Massive potatoes, radishes, cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, and more became staples of the Matanuska Colony and attracted renown in the rest of the country.
As farming in the area became established so too did the community of Palmer. Throughout 1936 agribusinesses and public facilities were built by transient workers. By the end of the year, the town featured a hospital, school, trading post, community center, cannery, creamery, chicken hatchery, four churches, and more. More businesses and trades would appear in the following years. Newly built railroad lines connected the colony to other parts of the state. An organization to represent the colonists called the Matanuska Valley Civic Association was formed, as were a 4-H club and a Grange chapter. Social events were hosted throughout the year at the school and community center. What was once a small stop along the railroad was turned into a connected community.
Colonists diligently farmed their plots through the remainder of the 1930s, but it would not be until the 1940s and the onset of World War II that Matanuska farms made profits. The establishment of the U.S. Army’s Fort Richardson near Anchorage created an increased demand for agricultural products, especially livestock products. Dairy products became the colony’s most profitable item and by 1943 700 cows were milking in the Matanuska Valley. The colony boasted 30,000 chickens for eggs and meat at the start of the war. Pork also became important and near the end of the war, Matanuska farmers raised a combined 900 hogs. According to the National Park Service, gross sales of Matanuska Colony farm products increased from $370,000 in 1943 to $1,120,500 in 1948. Conducting this business was the Matanuska Valley Farmers Cooperative Association (MVFCA) which was formed in the early years of the colony to aid in the marketing of the colony’s agricultural goods.
The increased demand led Matanuska farms to shift from being generalized subsistence farms to specialized commercial farms. This trend would continue through the 1950s. Apart from supplying food products to the military Matanuska provided goods to other customers like the Alaska Railroad, local mines, and the city of Anchorage.
By the mid-1960s most of the original colonist families had left Alaska, as only 20 were still in the region in 1965. However, farming in the Matanuska Valley had become established and others had successfully taken the place of the colonists that left. The MVFCA remained in operation marketing the area’s goods until the 1980s. The region became known in particular for its vegetables and dairy farming. Matanuska farmers supplied milk for the recognized Matanuska Maid dairy brand until its closure in 2007. The Matanuska colony’s original creamery operated until 2012.
The problems that the Matanuska Valley Colony experienced and the fact that most of the original farmers ended up leaving the colony have led historians to give mixed reviews on whether the project was successful or not. However, the project’s legacy lives on in Alaska in several ways. The colony was the first attempt at large-scale farming in Matanuska Valley and, although comparatively small, it established a farm economy in the state. The colony did also eventually become an agricultural supplier for different parts of Alaska which was part of its original intent.
Today, many of the colony’s original barns are still standing and dot the landscape of the area. The majority of Alaska’s farm operations are still found in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and the town of Palmer is considered the state’s agricultural center. Even though its dairy industry has faded in recent years, the region is still famous for its produce and giant vegetables. The Alaska State Fair, an event started by Matanuska colonists in 1936 and hosted in Palmer each year, is famous for its fruit and vegetable growing contests. Some record-setting veggies that have been grown in the Land of Midnight Sun include a 138 lb. green cabbage (the current world record), a 2,147 lb. giant pumpkin, a 39 lb. turnip, a 105 lb. kale plant, and many more!
Chandler Hansen grew up and lives in Easton, NY. He is a graduate of Gordon College where he earned a bachelor’s degree in History. He serves as a writer and editor for Morning Ag Clips.
