Anchorage No. 17

Anchorage Lodge No. 17, originally of the Grand Lodge of Washington, first received dispensation to work on February 21, 1917, and was chartered as Anchorage Lodge No. 221 on June 14, 1917.

On February 7, 1981, the M.W. Grand Lodge of F. & A.M. of Alaska opened its Constitutional Communication in Ample Form at 10:30 am. Resolutions were adopted and Anchorage Lodge was re-chartered by Grand Lodge of Alaska, the charter for the lodge having been assigned a number according to the ages of the lodges, as Glacier Lodge No. 10.

To discover more about Glacier No. 10, please visit the lodge’s website at www.glacierlodge.org.

Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage, a municipality, positioned in southcentral Alaska at the base of the Chugach Mountains, is a port at the head of Cook Inlet. Anchorage originally settled as a tent city near the mouth of Ship Creek in 1914, where a townsite was platted the following year alongside the southern bluff above Ship Creek. Anchorage quickly emerged as company town for the Alaska Railroad during Anchor Town’s first several decades of existence.

In January 1964, Anchorage became a city and borough.

The 1964 Alaska Good Friday afternoon earthquake caused significant damage to most of the Anchorage neighborhoods adjacent to Knik Arm, including its downtown. The community rapidly rebuilt and has since emerged as a major American city.

In 1968, oil was discovered in Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Slope. In 1974, construction began on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. The pipeline was completed in 1977 at a cost of more than $8 billion. The oil discovery and pipeline construction delivered an economic boom when oil and construction companies set-up headquarters in Anchorage. The Anchorage International Airport also boomed, marketed itself as the “Air Crossroads of the World,” due to Alaska’s geographical location.

In 1975, the city and borough consolidated, forming a unified government. The unified area became officially known as the Municipality of Anchorage. By 1980, the population of Anchorage had increased to 184,775.

The Anchorage airport was renamed Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in honor of Alaska’s longest-serving senator. On November 30, 2018, Anchorage experienced a 7.0 magnitude quake, as well as numerous aftershocks. The quake, centered about five miles north of the city, was the largest to shake the area since the massive 1964 quake.

Far North Bicentennial Park features a ski area, miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking, and a wildlife area that features moose and bears. Chugach State Park and Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge are also popular recreational and wildlife-watching locations.

Some notable attractions include the Anchorage Museum of History and Art (1968), the state’s largest museum; Alaska Heritage Library and Museum (1968), featuring native artifacts and art; and Alaska Zoo (1968).