Valley bars among those in new book

“A Guide to the Notorious Bars of Alaska,” by Doug Vandegraft, features several Valley bars, but a lust for alcohol wasn’t the motivating factor.

Instead, it was the love of history.

A cartographer who first moved north from Arizona in 1983 to work for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Vandegraft soon came to appreciate the uniqueness of Alaska’s social watering holes and set out to document the reputations of many long-established favorites. Vandegraft will appear at Fireside Books on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Vandegraft’s Anchorage workplace and camping and fishing excursions gave him opportunity for statewide research. However, his relocation to Washington, D.C., as Chief Cartographer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 17 years later gave him a chance to validate “A Guide to the Notorious Bars of Alaska” via easy access to the Library of Congress and the National Archives.

The guide details the history of 135 bars in continuous operation for at least 25 years in the city, town or village of their founding, under the same name.

Valley bars mentioned include:

Del Rois Bar, Palmer Bar

Klondike Mike’s, Mug-Shot Saloon

Knik Bar, Alpine Inn

The guide is both a practical guide for tourists and an overview of social drinking and its diverse participants in the 49th State. In addition to the Fireside Books event, Vandegraft will appear at the University of Alaska Anchorage Bookstore Friday and Chilkoot Charlie’s Monday. He will also deliver a paper on his topic at the Alaska Historical Society convention, followed by an Oct. 2 appearance at the Yukon Bar in Seward.