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City of Soldotna CollagePhoto: Ajohns90 · CC BY-SA 3.0
DHistory
History · Soldotna

Soldotna dates to 1960, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 10% of U.S. towns · #28 of 41 in Alaska. What drives it

Most of Soldotna was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Soldotna Post Office. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1960.

1960founded
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Soldotna’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Soldotna began

When was Soldotna founded?

1960

Soldotna dates its founding to 1960 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1960.

First census: 332 in 19602020 census: 4,34266 years

How historic is Soldotna?

D

More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1949.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Soldotna’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Soldotna is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #28 of 41 in Alaska. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Soldotna’s overall grade.
Founding era1960, from Wikipedia: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.5) · typical AK town 0.3% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register1 listing, 2.2 per 10,000 residents · typical AK town 3.3 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 10%
NewerOlder
Alaska towns of 2,500+ (41)Ahead of 32%

Alaska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Alaska town has 3.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Soldotna’s 2.2 sits near the middle of its state (56% of Alaska towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1960.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Soldotna’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Soldotna’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOld Kenai River Bridge: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Soldotna came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Soldotna.

Read it all →

In 1947, after World War II, the United States government withdrew a number of townships along Cook Inlet and the lower Kenai River from the Kenai National Moose Range, opening up the area to settlement under the Homestead Act. Veterans of the United States armed services were given a 90-day preference over non-veterans in selecting land and filing for property. Also in that year, the Sterling Highway right-of-way was cleared of trees from Cooper Landing to Kenai. The location of present-day Soldotna was selected as the site for the highway's bridge crossing the Kenai River.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Soldotna, 1949 to 1982

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1949Post officeThe Soldatna post office opens
  3. 1950In the archiveOld Kenai River Bridge
  4. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1960
    FoundingSoldotna is established
  6. 1967Post officeThe Soldatna post office closes
  7. 1967Post officeThe Soldotna post office opens
  8. 1972Born hereTravis Hall is born here
  9. 1976Born hereEmily Johnson is born here
  10. 1982Born hereJoey Newby is born here
By decade

Soldotna, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s1 item
Old Kenai River Bridge1950Old Kenai River Bridge
1960s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
SoHi2009SoHiKenai River Brewery2009Kenai River BreweryMoose at Midas - Alaska 20072007Moose at Midas - Alaska 2007House in2004House inAKMap-doton-Soldotna2004AKMap-doton-Soldotna
On the map

Soldotna on the map, 1950 to 1986

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

Soldotna on the 1950 USGS mapSoldotna on the 1986 USGS map1950Kenai B-3 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 Soldotna.

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.

Old Kenai River Bridge
Retake this viewOld Kenai River Bridge, 1950

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Soldotna

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2008
Soldotna Post Office
Soldotna Post Office
Buildings
Soldotna Post OfficeBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Soldotna, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,50019601980200020204,342

Grew from 332 people in 1960 to 4,342 in 2020, more than tenfold.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Soldotna

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
T
Travis HallAmerican football player · b. 1972
E
Emily JohnsonAmerican dancer · b. 1976
J
Joey NewbyAmerican baseball player · b. 1982
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Soldotna’s post office has been open since 1967. Another post office, Soldatna, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Soldatna
1949–1967
Soldotna
1967–today
19401980today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Shlakaq'

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

KalifornskyIts storyD−Funny RiverIts storyD−RidgewayIts storyD−SterlingIts storyD−

Questions about Soldotna’s history

What year was Soldotna founded?

In 1960, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Soldotna’s post office opened in 1949, and the census of 1960 counted 332 people here.

How does Soldotna rank for history?

Soldotna is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #28 of 41 in Alaska. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Soldotna?

One place: the Soldotna Post Office (listed 2008).

How old are the homes in Soldotna?

0.0% of Soldotna’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.3% for an Alaska town; the median home was built in 1988.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.