Editing North Pole, Alaska (section)

==History==
[[File:Santaclauslane.jpg|thumb|left|Main exit to North Pole off the [[Richardson Highway]]. Badger Road, a loop road off the Richardson between Fairbanks and North Pole, was named for Harry Markley Badger (1869–1965), a pioneer Fairbanks resident who established a farm along the road. Inside North Pole city limits, the road becomes Santa Claus Lane, one of many Christmas-themed streets in the city.]]
The Richardson Highway south of Fairbanks led to an assortment of subdivided and unsubdivided homesteads between [[Ladd Field]] and [[Eielson Air Force Base|26 Mile Field]] in the 1940s and 1950s.

The area that formed the central city of North Pole was homesteaded in 1944 by Bon V. and Bernice Davis. Their son, [[T. Neil Davis]], wrote ''Battling Against Success'' in 1997, a fictionalized account of homestead life. The Alaska Railroad established a siding on the Davis homestead as part of its branch line to [[Eielson Air Force Base]], naming the siding Davis. This name temporarily became associated with the fledgling settlement.

In 1952, Dahl and Gaske Development Company purchased the Davis homestead, subdivided it, and renamed it North Pole, in hopes of attracting a toy manufacturer to the area. The City of North Pole was incorporated on January 15, 1953, from portions of the Davis homestead and the adjacent homestead of James Ford. Ford was named the first mayor, with Everett Dahl serving on the first city council.

Another member of that first council was Conrad B. Miller. Miller, who came to Fairbanks in 1949, opened a trading post along the highway in 1952.<ref name=hood>{{cite news |title= Santa's 'hood gets busy for the holidays |work= Anchorage Press |date= December 13, 2012 |url= http://www.anchoragepress.com/news/santa-s-hood-gets-busy-for-the-holidays/article_9ea1774a-4584-11e2-aa0b-0019bb2963f4.html |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130117031745/http://www.anchoragepress.com/news/santa-s-hood-gets-busy-for-the-holidays/article_9ea1774a-4584-11e2-aa0b-0019bb2963f4.html |archive-date= January 17, 2013 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> The business became known as the Santa Claus House and evolved over the years into the current roadside attraction.<ref name=hood/> The business was also home to North Pole's first post office, serving in that capacity for almost 20 years. Another trading post in the community was operated by Lucius Cunningham and his family. The town's economy largely depended on these two businesses until the 1970s, when the current four-lane Richardson Highway was built, bypassing Davis Subdivision, which was effectively its downtown.

The Earth Resources refinery (now operated by [[Flint Hills Resources]]) began operations in August 1977. It is connected to the [[Trans-Alaska Pipeline System]] by several feeder pipelines operated by Golden Valley Electric Association, mostly following along the Laurence Road [[section line]]. The years after its construction saw the construction of the North Pole Plaza, a large enclosed shopping mall along the Richardson Highway. A standalone high school and increased subdivision development in previously rural areas immediately outside the city followed before the real estate market temporarily collapsed during the 1980s.

An interchange was constructed along the Richardson, where the highway intersects with the eastern end of Badger Road and the northern end of Santa Claus Lane, during the early 1990s. In the late 2000s, the northern portion of Santa Claus Lane was rebuilt to accommodate three consecutive [[roundabout]]s, serving the interchange and a nearby frontage road intersection. Another interchange was constructed on the Richardson at Dawson Road, at the far eastern edge of city limits. These improvements eliminated a number of at-grade access points to the Richardson, which had accumulated a decades-long history of serious accidents.

[[File:Beaver Lake North Pole AK (Quintin Soloviev).jpg|thumb|Beaver Lake in North Pole, AK]]
On April 22, 2006, police arrested several students at North Pole Middle School for allegedly plotting a [[school shooting]].<ref>{{cite news |title= 6 Alaska Students Held in Alleged Plot to Attack School |newspaper= The Washington Post |agency= Associated Press |date= April 23, 2006 |id= {{ProQuest|410112569}} }}</ref> ''Death in Santaland'', a documentary about the town and the foiled school shooting plot, was made by the British journalist [[Jon Ronson]] and broadcast on the television channel [[More 4]] in 2007.

The city government has had an often contentious history. A past mayor, Jeff Jacobson, was criticized for maintaining his full-time mayor's job while at the same time working full-time as a teacher at North Pole Middle School. In 2004, Jacobson sent a letter and a lump of coal to U.S. Senator [[John McCain]] about a comment he made regarding why the city's "elves" needed money for a recreation project that he considered a [[pork barrel]] project.<ref>Rice, Dan [http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/020504/sta_elves.shtml "Mayor of North Pole chides McCain over his elves comment"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040705112241/http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/020504/sta_elves.shtml |date=July 5, 2004 }}. ''Fairbanks Daily News-Miner''. Juneau Empire. February 4, 2004.</ref>

The current mayor of North Pole is Michael Welch.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.northpolealaska.com/?page_id=38 |title=Office of the Mayor Home |access-date=March 9, 2019 }}</ref> The city council consists of six members serving staggered three-year terms, with municipal elections held each October.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.northpolealaska.com/?page_id=46 |title=City Council, City of North Pole, Alaska |access-date=September 14, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322114919/http://www.northpolealaska.com/?page_id=46 |archive-date=March 22, 2013  }}</ref> In 2022, the city council consists of [[Santa Claus (politician)|Santa Claus]] (2019–2022), Aino Welch (2020–2023), DeJohn Cromer (2020–2023), David Skipps (2021–2024), and Anton Keller (2021–2024).

In 2014, [[Americans for Prosperity]] quickly pulled an ad campaign in Alaska after [[Koch Industries]] closed the Flint Hills Resources Refinery in North Pole.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20140218/koch-brothers-backed-group-pulls-political-ads-after-alaska-refinery-shutdown |title=Americans for Prosperity pulls political ads after Koch brothers' Alaska refinery shuts down |last1=DeMarban |first1=Alex |date=February 18, 2014 |website=www.alaskadispatch.com |publisher=Alaska Dispatch |access-date=February 19, 2014 |archive-date=February 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225071250/http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20140218/koch-brothers-backed-group-pulls-political-ads-after-alaska-refinery-shutdown |url-status=dead }}</ref>