Two different theories postulate that the spit originates either from the tidal swells and currents of Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay over millennia of sand buildup , or that it was pushed into place by now-retreated glaciers . In 1899 , the Cook Inlet Coal Fields Company laid a railroad track along the spit , connecting the docks to the coal fields along Kachemak Bay . The resulting business led to the development of what eventually became Homer , Alaska . In the 1960s , several hippies , known as " spit rats " , traveled from all around to camp on the Homer Spit , many of them becoming successful commercial fishermen over time . The 1964 Alaska earthquake shrank it to , and killed most of the vegetation , making it today mostly gravel and sand
1964 Alaska earthquake
1964 Alaska earthquake
Homer Spit