Valdez

Town in southeast Alaska; population (1990) 4,100. It is located 200 km/125 mi east of Anchorage, on the Valdez Arm of Prince William Sound. It has been, since 1977, the south terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline; oil from Prudhoe Bay is stored in Valdez and shipped from its ice-free port. The Spanish explored the area and gave the name to the harbour in 1790; the city was founded in 1898 as a goldfield supply centre, and survived as a fishing community. After its destruction by the March 1964 earthquake, Valdez was rebuilt 7 km/4 mi to the west of its original site.