Kenai is named after the Kenai Peninsula. The name Kenai is probably derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for the Cook Inlet and translates to “flat, barren land”. Or, it could refer to the Inuit word Kenai (black bear). Archaeological evidence suggests that the area was first occupied by the Kachemak people from 1000 B.C., until they were displaced by the Dena’ina Athabasca people around 1000 A.D.

Before the arrival of the Russians, Kenai was a Dena’ina village called Shk’ituk’t, which means “where we slide down.” When Russian fur traders first arrived in 1741, about 1,000 Dena’ina lived in the village. The traders called the people “Kenaitze,” or “Kenai people.” In 1791, a Russian trading post, Fort St. Nicholas, was constructed in the middle of the village for the purposes of fur and fish trading.

It was the second permanent Russian settlement in Alaska. Hostilities surfaced between the natives and settlers in 1797 when what is dubbed the battle of Kenai, an incident in which the Dena’ina attacked Fort St. Nicholas, resulting in over one hundred deaths from all involved parties. Later, in 1838, the introduction of smallpox killed one half of the Dena’ina population.

In 1869, after the Alaska Purchase the United States Army established a post called Fort Kenay. It was soon abandoned. In 1888 a prospector named Alexander King discovered gold on the Kenai Peninsula. The amount of gold was small compared to the later gold finds in the Klondike, Nome and Fairbanks. In 1894, the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church was built in the village. It is still in use today.

In 1917, Libby expanded their holdings in Alaska by buying out Alaska Salmon Co. of San Francisco. Mr. Svensson was the General Superintendent of these holdings under a Mr. Branch, the GM. At that time, Libby owned four sailing ships, the 3-masted full rigged “St. Francis; the bark “W.B. Flint; the full rigged ship Abner Coburn; and the schooner “Salvatore”. All canning companies at the time carried their own canning supplies to the canneries. The large ships lay at anchor off shore, waiting until the pack was put up at the end of the season. He crews of the ships were the fishermen for the canneries for the summer, and in the fall they loaded up their catch and sailed south.

1918 marked the year when much of the sail fleet was transitioning to motorized ships. That year Libby built the “W.F. Burrows”, a four masted schooner with twin diesels, in 1917 in Portland. Then a full powered motor ship the “Libby Main” was built in 1918 and that year Libby sent the crew to Kenai on the S.S. “Admiral Farragut” accompanied by the “Salvatore” with a load of piling. This was war time, and Capt. Rasmussen lamented that “crews were hard to keep in line, as wages in other places paid better than the canneries”. That year, they put up 49,000 cases of salmon were stored, a good pack by Kenai Standards. The weather off the coast of Kenai that fall was so bad that they had to haul the store via the “Salvatore” to Anchorage, re-load to a steamer there, and tow the schooner back to Kenai, where they loaded more before heading south.

Capt. Rasmussen sailed to Kenai aboard the “Admiral Watson” on April, 1919, but a bad year yielded only 19,000 cases that year. In 1920, a huge recession hit the states, and the government returned un-used salmon from the war to the original canneries. Several companies almost went bankrupt, including Libby. They slashed wages and encouraged employees to buy stock, which had dropped to a fraction of its original value. Nonetheless, Libby outfitted for the season and put up 46,000 cases that year.

In July 21, 1921 the original cannery burned to the ground. Capt. Rasmussen writes: “All the scows, fish house, and canning lines were full of salmon, and it was a sorry mess”. Libby immediately built a new plant, just off the site of the original cannery. Supplies were brought in by the “Libby-Maine” in September. They framed up the building until late October when winter set in.

That winter, Rasmussen assembled materials to re-build the plant, and in the spring of 1922, he re-built the plant. Unfortunately, it was a bad year and they packed 34,000 cases. That winter, under the title “Port captain”, Rasmussen repaired the ships and cannery tenders. 1923 was the worst canning year since 1919, with only 33,000 cases.

In 1924, Libby failed to reach an agreement with the Alaska fishermen’s Union, but they improvised by giving pile drivers and fishing gear to local fishermen who placed them and fished them, and Libby bought all the fish. 1924 was the first year Libby was regulated by the Fish and Wildlife Service as to time of fishing and closure periods. Rasmussen reported: “Some of these fishermen do not take these new regulations seriously enough, with the result that two traps were caught fishing illegally. One Sunday morning, F & W closed the traps and took charge of the gear, and the fishermen were jailed in Seldovia”.

1925 marked the first year of replacing the old sailing ships with steamers. It was also was the year Libby installed tee first fast fillers in the canneries, which resulted in changes all down the canning line: increase in cooling capacity, etc. That year, Libby produced 47,000 cases. Libby acquired the “Otsego” and the “Gorgas” in 1926, a good fishing year when Libby produced 58,000 cases. 1927 was a better year than 1923, and Rasmussen speculated that salmon “runs in 4 year cycles”, with 1927 following four years after 1923. That year they packed 31,000 cases. 1927 was also the first year Libby fished for Herring.

During the Depression Libby did not close plants, but they did once again slash wages and lay off workers. They revised their contracts with the Union, The Salmon Industry, Inc. which was organized for the purpose of negotiating and making blanket contracts for all the packers, and to streamline the agreements between the packers and the unions. In 1932, Libby bought several hand traps from Gorman and Co. in Anchorage, giving them a total of 32 traps stretching from East foreland to Point Possession. Although the years 1933, 34, and 35 were average and uneventful, Rasmussen reports that their salaries were restored to full.

Rasmussen’s last year as superintendent of Kenai Plant was 1936, a year when the refitted steamer “David W. Branch” (named after the manager of the Salmon division) supplied the cannery. Rasmussen became District Superintendent for Cook Inlet and Southeastern that year, in charge of repairs, outfitting of the steamers and cannery tenders.

The establishment of shipping companies in the early 1900’s broadened Kenai into a port city. Canning companies were established and helped fuel the commercial fishing boom that was the primary activity through the 1920’s. In 1937, construction of the Kenai Airport began. In 1940, homesteads were opened in the area. The first dirt road from Anchorage was constructed in 1951; pavement would not arrive until 1956 with the construction of the Kenai Spur highway.

A military base, Wildwood Army Station (later Wildwood Air Force Station), was established in 1953 and served as a major communications post. Wildwood was conveyed in 1974 to the Kenai Native Association in partial settlement of Alaska Native land claims. The facility was leased and later purchased by the State of Alaska and presently serves as the Wildwood Correctional Complex.
In 1957, oil was discovered at Swanson River, 20 miles northeast of Kenai.

This was the first major oil discovery in Alaska. In 1965, offshore oil discoveries in Cook Inlet caused a period of rapid growth. Today, Old Town Kenai still shows remnants of its Russian history. A self-guided walking tour takes visitors to the site of the Old Russian parish, and the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church where church services are still held. Many Alaska Native and Russian artifacts are on display at the Kenai Visitors & Cultural Center, where walking tour maps can be had at no charge.