 Cordova proper was founded as a result of the discovery of high-grade copper ore at Kennecott, north of Cordova.A group of surveyors from Valdez laid out a town site and Michael James Heney purchased half the land for the terminus of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway after determining that the neighboring town of Katalla was a poor harbor.Heney and his crew held a brief ceremony to organize the town on March 26, 1906.