A view of Butte

BUTTE — The Butte community is small but is more than the isolated hill it is known for.

It has an extensive history, both colonial and indigenous. The people living there today came for a variety of reasons but by the majority, it seems many of them came for similar reasons: nature and personal space.

“It’s very peaceful,” Butte resident Suzanne Black said. “I wanted to go somewhere where they weren’t constantly destroying things.”

In the coming weeks, the Frontiersman will publish a series of stories about the Palmer-area community, exploring the many layers, past and present, and what the future may hold.

The area has long been known as “The Butte,” but some residents insist on saying “Butte” not “the Butte” just like a reference to “Wasilla,” not “the Wasilla.”

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 3,246 people lived in Butte as of 2010. Those numbers have surely risen along with the rapidly growing Mat-Su Valley. Fourty miles away from Anchorage and a short drive out of Palmer, the Butte community is surrounded by glaciers, mountains and two wild rivers. It’s nestled between the Knik and Matanuska rivers. The only road to Butte is the Old Glenn Highway.

The Knik River Public Use Area , is a popular outdoor recreational destination, not just for local but from across the Mat-Su Valley and beyond. The lands offer a full spectrum of outdoor recreational opportunities and are open to motorized and non-motorized recreational pursuits. Activities common to the area include riding off-highway vehicles, hunting, fishing, trapping, target shooting, boating, flying planes, horseback riding, biking, hiking, camping, and wildlife viewing, according to the KRPUA website.

Butte is also home to the Alaska Raceway Park. The park opened more than 50 years ago and contains a third-mile oval track that’s been certified by NASCAR. During the summer, the track is often booming from the thunderous engines, hosting a number of events. The matter of track noise has stirred up a number of nearby residents.

Butte has its own elementary school and handful of small businesses. The community’s “economic backbone” has largely to do with the agricultural network of local, producing farms as well as the State of Alaska Plant Materials Center, according to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ website.

Organic and conventional farms in the area like the Bushes Bunches supply scores of produce to the local farmer's markets of the surrounding areas, with their own stand off the Old Glenn Highway.

The Butte community is within District, 1 of the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, Jim Sykes’ jurisdiction. He knows a lot of the people there and said that he’s found a lot of strong personalities out there.

“It’s real diverse. There’s all walks of life and there’s a lot of pride,” Sykes said. “It’s sort of a rural version of what Spenard in Anchorage used to be in the 80’s.”

It’s easy to find “flash points” in any community, Sykes said, meaning each community faces its own hot button issues, the ones often brought up in meetings and dinner conservations.

One notable “flash point” is the amount of junk and trash left behind from parties and at times, criminal activities. From, broken bottles to broken or even burned down cars, many Butte residents and organizations appear frustrated as they deal with the consequences.

Black has lived in Butte for 13 years but her grasp of the area goes back way further. She knows numerous families who’ve lived in the area for generations. During her interview with the Frontiersman on July 20, she realized it was the anniversary of the “death of the old road” meaning the relocation of Bodenberg Loop in the 1950’s. As she walked her grounds, she mused over the history of the land and surrounding area. She recalled memories from her childhood and some milestones over the years within the ever-changing Butte community.

"We've got our grumps and we've got our crazies but all all, there's a lot of good people," Black said.