Seward, Alaska

Seward (Alutiiq: Qutalleq; Dena'ina: Tl'ubugh) is an incorporated home rule city in Alaska, United States. Located on Resurrection Bay, a fjord of the Gulf of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is situated on Alaska's southern coast, approximately 120 miles (190 km) by road from Alaska's largest city, Anchorage. With a population of 2,717 people as of the 2020 census, Seward is the fourth-largest city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, behind Kenai, Homer, and the borough seat of Soldotna. The city is named for former United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, who orchestrated the United States' purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867 while serving in this position as part of President Andrew Johnson's administration. Seward is the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad and the historic starting point of the original Iditarod Trail to Interior Alaska, with Mile 0 of the trail marked on the shoreline at the southern end of town. In 2015, President Barack Obama visited Seward, first stopping at Exit Glacier to discuss the visible impacts of climate change with Bear Grylls. Obama characterized Exit Glacier's receding edge as, "...as good a signpost of what we're dealing with when it comes to climate change as just about anything... We want to make sure that our grandkids can see this." He also toured Downtown Seward, visiting a local ice cream shop, and explored Resurrection Bay and Bear Glacier from the water aboard the Viewfinder, which launched from Seward Harbor.