the creeks feeding Turnagain Arm. It was renamed for Colonel James Girdwood, a Belfast-born, Scots-Irish entrepreneur and linen merchant who staked the first four gold claims along Crow Creek in 1896. The town was moved up the valley after the devastating Good Friday earthquake of 1964, when the land under the original townsite subsided into Turnagain Arm, putting much of the town below high tide. The nearby settlement of Alyeska was abandoned and most of its inhabitants moved to the new Girdwood townsite as well. The land has not all since been reclaimed, as one can still see inundated cabins in the marshy areas into which the city formerly extended. Significant earthquakes are a relatively common occurrence for Girdwood and the Kenai peninsula. Evidence indicates the area has seen six major quakes in the past 3,300 years. Girdwood was incorporated as a city in 1961 and was absorbed into the Municipality of Anchorage in 1975, when the Greater Anchorage Area Borough unified with Anchorage and the borough's smaller cities. The town has served as a backdrop for at least two films: The Chechahcos, a 1924 silent film about the Klondike Gold Rush, and Warren Miller's 1997 Snowriders II. Girdwood was the home of Alaska's former senior U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, and Girdwood found itself in the media spotlight when the construction projects on Stevens' home became the subject of a federal investigation. Olympic gold and silver medal-winning skier Tommy Moe also called Girdwood home during his high school years, during which he attended Glacier Creek Academy. Girdwood was shown on CBS on January 20, 2008, as the finish line for The Amazing Race 12. Geography Climate According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Girdwood has a subarctic climate, abbreviated "Dfc" on climate maps. Demographics Girdwood first appeared on the 1950 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It formally incorporated as a city in 1961 and merged into Anchorage in 1975. References External links Alaska Division of Community Advocacy - Community Information Summary Official Girdwood Visitor information Anchorage metropolitan area Former cities in Alaska Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area Mining communities in Alaska Populated coastal places in Alaska on the Pacific Ocean Populated places in Anchorage, Alaska Populated places disestablished in 1975