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The Port of Valdez was named in 1790 by Don Salvador Fidalgo after the
Spanish naval officer Antonio Valdes y Basan. Because the Port of
Valdez was ice-free port, a town was developed in 1898 as a debarkation
point for men seeking a route to the Eagle Mining District and the
Klondike gold fields. Valdez was incorporated as a City on April 18,
1901. Fort Liscum was established in 1900, and a sled and wagon road
was constructed to Fort Egbert in Eagle by the U.S. Army. The
1964 earthquake which destroyed Anchorage, generated tsunamis that
destroyed the original City of Valdez, killing several people in the old
city of Valdez. The city was rebuilt in a more sheltered location near the
old one. During
the 1970s, the construction of the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline terminal
brought growth to Valdez very quickly. In March 1989, there was a
massive oil-spill cleanup after the Exxon Valdez disaster.
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