A Guide to the Notorious Bars of Alaska 3rd Ed. Rev.

The Lower 48 have created myths and legends about Alaska.Things in Alaska are bigger, colder, wilder, fiercer, more rugged, more independent, more resourceful, to name just a few of the qualities that define the Alaska myth. However, the one that says Alaskan bars stand head and shoulders above bars anywhere else just might be true.
When author Doug Vandegraft moved to Alaska in 1983 after graduating college, he found himself in the wild-west style bar scene in Anchorage.Nearly two decades later, he officially began conducting research on Alaskan bars that he found as unique as everyone believed.
A Guide to the Notorious Bars of Alaska details the rich history and atmosphere of remarkable, one-of-a-kind Alaskan bars, some of which have been around since the end of Prohibition in 1933. These historic establishments have become legendary in their communities and beyond as places to socialize, meet friends, come in from the cold, and in some cases, provide a temporary escape from dangerous occupations such as commercial fishing, logging, and mining.
Despite strict laws regarding sale and consumption, and the COVID-19 pandemic, Alaska's bars have survived, remained in operation and are notorious as ever.

Doug Vandegraft was born in southern California and received his first degree from Northern Arizona University in 1982. He lived in Alaska from 1983 - 2000. While working as a Cartographer for the Federal Government, he earned a second degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1998. In 2000, he moved to the Washington DC area where he served as the first Chief Cartographer for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2016, he became the first Chief of the Geospatial Services Division for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. He began his Notorious Bars of Alaska project in 2000, utilizing records housed at the nearby National Archives and books at the Library of Congress. During his fourteen years of research, he made several trips back to Alaska, visiting libraries, historical societies, and bars that he hadn't visited yet. The first edition of Notorious Bars of Alaska was published in 2014, and the second edition in 2017. Doug retired from the Federal Government in 2018 and lives with his wife JoAnn in La Conner, WA.