And here is the quiet wonder of the place: the Alaska flag was born in Seward. In 1927 a thirteen-year-old boy named Benny Benson, a resident of the town's Jesse Lee Home, entered a territory-wide design contest with eight gold stars on a field of blue — the Big Dipper for strength, the North Star for Alaska's future. His entry beat 142 others and became, in time, the flag of the state. A memorial in town marks the spot, and few small towns can say they gave a state its flag.
What's with Resurrection Bay? Seward sits at the very head of it — a long, deep fjord on the Kenai Peninsula where the mountains drop straight into salt water and the harbor never freezes. The Russian navigator Alexander Baranov gave the bay its name in 1792, after sheltering here on the Orthodox Sunday of the Resurrection; he liked the cove so well that he built a shipyard, and in 1793 his men launched the schooner Phoenix, probably the first ship ever built on the northwest coast of North America. Deep, ice-free, and ringed by ice, the bay is the whole reason Seward exists: it is the door Alaska's interior opens through.
Why People Visit Seward
Seward blends marine science with glacier access and harbor life. Visitors mix easy waterfront walks with boat tours, public art, and museums, all beneath the mountains. It is dramatic, friendly, and photogenic, with year-round appeal in its parks, paths, and public spaces. Frontier railroad history and the wild coast sit side by side here — history and everyday Alaska life together in a welcoming way.
