Page 10 - Parks Highway Bearfoot

Bearfoot Checkpoint: Palmer is 8 miles east of the Parks PALMER AREA Highway. Exit at Mile 42 of the Glenn Highway.
P ALMER&
HATCHER PASS
ALASKA'S FARMS
Palmer is 35 minutes north of Anchorage on the Glenn Highway and only ten miles from Wasilla, over the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.
Palmer's a real farm town, with sidewalks, and a comfortable, 1950's aura that can make you feel somewhat nostalgic. Palmer is proud of its Alaska heritage, its farm roots and its high school football team, the Palmer Moose.
Palmer was made famous in the Great Depression of 1935, when 203 families were sent north by Frank- lin D. Roosevelt to start a farming "colony." In those
days, Americans and Europeans coming to Alas- ka tended to be from colder parts of the country. This group of farmers was no different. The Palmer colonists were chosen mainly from the hardy cold weather farm towns of the upper Midwest: Minne- sota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
A strong midwestern heritage runs through the town, especially in the historic "old town" near the Visitor Center. There's a main street, coffee shops, and a prominent fairground. Large grocery stores sell peas, potatoes, and carrots produced by local farming families.
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