Spenard, Anchorage — Area Guide & Where to Stay

What are the main landmarks in Spenard?

Faith houses mark the district. The Oscar Gill House, a pioneer home carried here from the older settlement of Knik, survives as one of the oldest buildings in the Anchorage area and anchors Spenard's early stock. Congregations give the neighbourhood its other landmarks.

Anchorage Love Church and Iglesia La Luz Del Mundo gather worshippers from across the city, the latter a landmark of the district's Spanish-speaking community, while a Byzantine Catholic parish serves the nearby North Star blocks. Small and lived-in beats grand here.

What is the history of Spenard?

Spenard grew around its lakes. The neighbourhood took shape along the road that still carries its name, a route linking the young town of Anchorage to the float-plane basins at Lake Hood and Lake Spenard. The Oscar Gill House, carried from the older settlement of Knik, stands among the district's earliest buildings and marks its pioneer decades.

Churches followed the settlers. Later arrivals raised congregations such as Iglesia La Luz Del Mundo, and Spenard settled into the working, mixed character it keeps within Anchorage.

Where is Spenard?

Spenard spreads across the lake-dotted flats west of central Anchorage, wrapped around Lake Hood and Lake Spenard, where float planes taxi between water and the road that names the district.