4. Interpretive Panel: U.S. Post Office and Earthquake Victims Memorial (parking)
Built in 1962, this Kennedy-era red brick and glass block simple rectangular structure and the second Old Town post office, didn’t show signs of damage caused by fissures during the 1964 Earthquake due to its design and incorporation of a heavily-reinforced concrete pad. Some uneven settlement appears to have taken place however. The foundation remains and supports a memorial to the thirty-two residents of Valdez, four National Guardsmen who came to the town’s aid, and Chenega villagers, who died March 27, 1964.
Four successive waves advanced into Old Town after the earthquake. The fourth and final wave brought water one third of the way into town to a depth of two feet near Hobart Street where the post office sits. A new post office was built in New Valdez.
Transported via air and truck, the mail and newspapers arrived daily in Valdez and weekly by ship, regularly linking what some would call a remote region to the rest of the world.
Prince William Sound 1964 Earthquake Victims Memorial
Old Town Residents Who Died in the 1964 Earthquake:
Daniel Boddy
Fred “Freddy” O. Brown
Rev. Duane Carriker
Dennis M. Rutledge (Cunningham)
Douglas Granger
Paul Gregorieff
David Lee Growden
James Wilson Growden
James Wilson Growden, Jr.
Margaret Keenan Harrais
Robert P. Harrison
Harry Henderson
Sam Johnson
Chester G. Joslyn
Stanley Knutsen
Howard Kraiger
Georgia “Pat” Kulstad
Ross A. McCoy
Donald Mueller
Donald M. O’Leary
Richard J. Robinson
William W. Schmidt
Sterlin O. Stapp
Debra L. Stuart
Earl L. Stuart
Janice L. Stuart
Larry P. Stuart
George T. Tabasco
Ralph E. Thompson
Jack Van Buskirk
Phillip G. Wheeler
Milton T. Williams
Gerald L. Zook