Editing Soldotna, Alaska (section)

==History==
[[File:Old Kenai River Bridge.jpg|thumb|left|Dedication ceremony for the Sterling Highway on September 6, 1950, at the original bridge crossing the Kenai River. The highway's opening provided for large-scale settlement of the area.]]
In 1947, after World War II, the United States government withdrew a number of townships along [[Cook Inlet]] and the lower [[Kenai River]] from the [[Kenai National Wildlife Refuge|Kenai National Moose Range]], opening up the area to settlement under the [[Homestead Act]]. Veterans of the United States armed services were given a 90-day preference over non-veterans in selecting land and filing for property. Also in that year, the [[Sterling Highway]] right-of-way was cleared of trees from [[Cooper Landing, Alaska|Cooper Landing]] to [[Kenai, Alaska|Kenai]]. The location of present-day Soldotna was selected as the site for the highway's bridge crossing the Kenai River.

The construction of the Sterling Highway provided a link from the Soldotna area to the outside world. More homesteads were taken and visitors came to fish in the area. The [[Soldotna Post Office]] opened in 1949 and other businesses opened in the next few years.

Oil was discovered in the [[Swanson River]] region in 1957, bringing new economic development to the area. In 1960, Soldotna was incorporated as a fourth class city with a population of 332 and an area of {{convert|7.4|mi2|acre}}. Then seven years later, in 1967, Soldotna was recognized as a first class city.<ref>[http://commerce.alaska.gov/dcra/pub/2008_CommunityDirectoryweb.pdf Alaska Community Directory 2008. p. 176] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714205150/http://commerce.alaska.gov/dcra/pub/2008_CommunityDirectoryweb.pdf |date=July 14, 2014 }}. ''State of Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development''. Retrieved July 7, 2014.</ref>

In 1964, the [[Kenai Peninsula College]], the [[Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska|Kenai Peninsula Borough]] government, and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District were formed.

The city experienced rapid population growth in the 1960s through the 1990s as a result of its location at the intersection of two major highways and due to development of the oil industry on the Kenai Peninsula. As the city and the oil industry have matured, population growth has somewhat slowed, although the city experienced more growth from 2000 to 2010 than during the previous decade. In 2016, it was granted home rule.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.peninsulaclarion.com/news/soldotna-home-rule-charter-passes/ |website=Peninsula Clarion |publisher=Morris Publishing Group, LLC |access-date=September 20, 2018 |title=Soldotna home-rule charter passes|date=October 5, 2016 }}</ref>