Visit us in Valdez anytime at 128 Pioneer Drive.
You can meet the staff and maybe even take a tour!
Valdez is home-base for KCHU. The transmitter in Old Town Valdez broadcasts 10,000 watts of digital AM. Like Cordova, Valdez was primarily a fishing town prior to moving to its present location with the help of the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers after the 1964 earthquake. Our unique population spends a considerable amount of time engaging in recreation or commerce on Prince William Sound. AM transmits more effectively across water than FM. Our 770 AM frequency can reach gill-netters, seiners, recreational vessels, tankers and tugs throughout the navigable waters of the sound. That was a primary factor in the decision to choose an AM signal for KCHU.
Valdez Facts
The City of Valdez, with a year-round population of over four thousand, is located in South Central Alaska on the northeast reach of Prince William Sound. Valdez is 305 miles east of Anchorage, and 364 miles south of Fairbanks by road. It lies at approximately 61.130830° North Latitude and -146.34833° West Longitude. The City encompasses 222.0 square miles of land and 55.1 square miles of water.
The City was founded just prior to the turn of the 20th century as a gateway to the “All-American Route” to interior gold and copper fields. The community was incorporated in 1901 and our first hundred years have been marked by a number of significant events, the most notable of which are the 1964 Alaska Earthquake, becoming the terminus of the trans-Alaska Pipeline and the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.