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History · Anderson

Anderson was first counted by the census in 1970

Most of Anderson was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1970.

1970first census
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Anderson’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Anderson began

When was Anderson founded?

1970

Anderson first appears in the census in 1970.

First census: 362 in 19702020 census: 17756 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Anderson’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 628 in 1990; 177 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Anderson’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Anderson’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewClear Air Force Station, Ballistic Miss…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Anderson, census by census

0100200300400500600700198020002020Peak: 628

Peaked at 628 in 1990; 177 people lived here in 2020.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Anderson’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Anderson came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Anderson.

Read it all →

Anderson is named after Arthur Anderson, one of several homesteaders who settled in the area in the late 1950s. In 1959, Anderson subdivided his homestead into house lots and sold most of the lots to civilian workers from Clear Air Force Station, a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System station completed in 1961. An elementary school was built in the community in 1961, and Anderson incorporated as a city on June 2, 1962.

ChaptersEarly years21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Anderson, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Clear Air Force Station, Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Site II, One mile west of mile marker 293.5 on Parks Hi…Date?Clear Air Force Station, Ballistic Missile Early Warn…
On the map

Anderson on the map, 1949 to 1950

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Anderson. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Anderson on the 1949 USGS mapAnderson on the 1950 USGS map1949Fairbanks B-5 sheet · 1:63,360

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Anderson.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Clear Air Force Station, Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Site II, One mile west of mile marker 293.5 on Parks Hi…
Retake this viewClear Air Force Station, Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Site II, One mile west of mile marker 293.5 on Parks Hi…

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Anderson’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Anderson

Nobody well known was born in Anderson itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Don WrightAmerican politician · b. 1929
E
Erica LordDene (Northern Athabascan)/Iñupiaq interdiscipl… · b. 1978

Questions about Anderson’s history

What year was Anderson founded?

The Anderson post office opened in 1970, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.