Editing Anderson, Alaska (section)

==History==

===Early years===
Anderson is named after Arthur Anderson, one of several homesteaders who settled in the area in the late 1950s. In 1959, Anderson subdivided his homestead into house lots and sold most of the lots to civilian workers from [[Clear Air Force Station]], a [[Ballistic Missile Early Warning System]] station completed in 1961. An elementary school was built in the community in 1961, and Anderson incorporated as a city on June 2, 1962.

In the 1960s, a road was completed between Anderson and [[Nenana, Alaska|Nenana]]. A [[ferry]] across the [[Tanana River]] at Nenana provided access to the Fairbanks–Nenana Highway, and hence to [[Fairbanks, Alaska|Fairbanks]] and the contiguous North American highway system via the [[Richardson Highway|Richardson]] and [[Alaska Highway|Alaska]] Highways. The ferry was replaced with a bridge in 1968. In 1972, the [[George Parks Highway]] was completed, which provided direct road access to points south, including [[Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage]].<ref name="Anderson"/>

===21st century===
In March 2007, the city announced a plan to attract more residents: the awarding of free land to interested applicants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/16/alaska.land.ap/index.html |title=21st century homesteading: Free land in Alaska - CNN.com |website=[[CNN]] |accessdate=March 16, 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070319102327/http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/16/alaska.land.ap/index.html |archivedate=March 19, 2007 }}</ref> This concept has been compared to that of the [[Homestead Act]].

The Anderson/Clear [[Lions Clubs International|Lions Club]], in conjunction with commercial sponsors and [[Two Rivers, Alaska|Two Rivers]]-based concert promoters Acoustic Adventures, hosted the annual Anderson Bluegrass Festival. Held on the last weekend of every July from Friday through Sunday at Riverside Park, the festival was the city's significant visitor attraction. The festival was discontinued in 2012. It was replaced with a similar, privately run family music festival held in the same location starting in 2015.