In this land of off-the-beaten-path places, Copper Center is one of them. The town of 294 residents is located between Mile 100 and 105 of the Old Richardson Highway along a "loop" that was created when the Richardson Highway was straightened in 1988. You now have to make a special effort to see this small community, but Copper Center is classic Alaska and well worth the few extra miles.
Since the creation of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in 1980, Copper Center has served as one of the gateways for visitors entering the massive national park. It is a full-service community with a range of accommodations, restaurants, campgrounds, supplies, gas and tire repair.
Strategically located at the confluence of the Klutina and Copper Rivers, Copper Center was originally a large, winter village for Ahtna Athabascan families who have lived in the region for more than 5,000 years. The first lodge in the Copper River Basin arrived in 1896 offering a soft bed and a hot meal to travelers, most of them miners following the Valdez-Fairbanks Trail during the gold rushes of 1897-98. Eventually Copper Center evolved into the principal supply center for miners in the Nelchina-Susitna region, adding a telegraph station and post office in 1901 and a school four years later.
In 1932, the roadhouse was replaced with the Copper Center Lodge as construction began on the Richardson and Glenn Highways, making the region much more accessible. Today the large log lodge is part of a vanishing breed of Alaska roadhouses, slowly being replaced by modern motels and resorts, a place where in the evening you can meet other guests sitting in front of the fireplace in the lounge and in the morning enjoy a stack of sourdough pancakes made from scratch with a starter dating back a century.