The Dena'ina Athabascan people lived in this valley long before the railroad. Wasilla itself was born in 1917, when the new Alaska Railroad pushed north and a townsite was platted and auctioned beside the line — a supply stop for the homesteaders and miners of the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Early traders like O. G. Herning had worked the Knik country before the tracks arrived, and the railroad turned the crossing into a town.
Our Wasilla logo carries Alaska's bear over "Alaska Territory · Est. 1959," the year Alaska became the forty-ninth state — the shared emblem of every Merlin Classics Alaska place. Printed in a distressed black-and-white that reads like an old outfitter's stamp, the bear is the Last Frontier in shorthand: rugged, wild, and at home in the cold. What makes this one Wasilla is the country behind it — the Mat-Su Valley, the lakes and ranges, and the trail that runs all the way to Nome.
Why People Visit Wasilla
Wasilla balances Alaska heritage with easygoing valley life — lakeside walks, broad mountain scenery, and the deep history of the long trail north. It's accessible, relaxed, and a practical base for exploring the Mat-Su Valley and Southcentral Alaska.
