Homer is located in Kenai Peninsula Borough on the southwestern Kenai Peninsula on the north shore of Kachemak Bay at the end of the Sterling Hwy.
Homer was named for Homer Pennock, a gold mining company promoter, who arrived on the Homer Spit in 1896 and built living quarters for his crew of 50 men.
After coal was discovered in the area in the 1890s, Cook Inlet Coal Fields Company built a town, dock, coal mine, and railroad. Various coal mining operations continued until WWII. There is still an estimated 400 million tons of coal deposits in the area.
The Homer Spit is a five mile gravel bar that extends off the main highway. There are many marine-related businesses and facilities along the spit.
For information, visit the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center.
Homer is known as the "Halibut Capital of the World." It is the home of Alaska's largest and longest running fishing derby cash jackpot, the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby.
