Today Cordova is a working fishing town at the edge of the wild — harbor and rainforest, glaciers and delta, and the best wild salmon on earth running past its door. Our Cordova designs gather that identity — the bear emblem, the Million Dollar Bridge, the Copper River reds — into wearable form. Cordova, Alaska — end of the road, home of the Copper River reds, where the rails once ran for copper and the salmon still run wild.
What’s with the Million Dollar Bridge? About fifty miles up the Copper River from Cordova, a steel railroad bridge stands between two glaciers — Childs on one bank, Miles on the other — both of them calving icebergs into the river as it works. Built in 1909–10 at a cost of $1.4 million, which gave it its name, the Miles Glacier Bridge carried copper trains across one of the most hostile spots in Alaska. Engineers were told it couldn’t be done; they raised four great Pennsylvania-truss spans across the gap anyway, racing a federal deadline through sub-zero winters. The Good Friday earthquake of 1964 knocked one span off its pier, where it hung at an angle for forty years before being repaired. It still stands — the iconic landmark of Cordova’s copper age.
Why People Visit Cordova
Cordova rewards travelers who want the real, working edge of Alaska: a fishing fleet at the dock, glaciers and a great river delta within reach, world-class birding and salmon, and a town you have to make an effort to reach. Bring rain gear and time.
