Fairbanks is the most populated city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage. Fairbanks is situated in a valley between two mountain ranges, the Alaska Range and the Brooks Range. According to 2008 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 35,132.

History

Fairbanks was founded in August 1901 by Captain E.T. Barnette who was trying to establish a trading post at Tanacross (where the Tanana River crossed the Valdez-Eagle trail). However, the Lavelle Young, the steam boat which Barnette was aboard, ran aground and he was deposited seven miles up the Chena River. Smoke from the steamer's engines attracted some prospectors. The prospectors persuaded Barnette to set up his trading post there. The city is named after Charles Fairbanks, a Republican senator from Indiana and later the 26th Vice President of the United States, serving in Theodore Roosevelt's second term.

A gold discovery north of town in 1902 provided a slew of new residents to the newly founded town. Federal judge James Wickersham established government offices in Fairbanks the next year, helping to cement the quickly growing town as a crucial center of activity in Interior Alaska.