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Although the Federal Department
of Agriculture broke ground on the experiment
station in 1917, Palmer didn't become a bustling
community until 200 colonist families arrived in
1935.
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration, one of
President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal relief agencies,
established the Matanuska Colony. Each family drew lots
for their 40-acre tracts. The more robust families, who
were able to adjust to life in Alaska, soon realized a
good profit could be made in farming. Many of the
structures they built are now Historical Landmarks.
While the colonists had varying degrees of success
with the project, Palmer is the only Alaska community
that developed from an agriculture economy. To this day,
farming plays an important role in the Mat-Su Valley.
Palmer also served as a homesteading area for miners who
had returned from the Nelchina gold stampede in 1913 to
lead an agricultural lifestyle. Development of the coal
mines north of Palmer, Eska and Chickaloon, and the
influx of gold miners heading to Independence Mine in
Hatcher Pass contributed to the increase in population.
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