James Girdwood, an Irish immigrant and linen merchant staked 4 gold claims on Crow Creek in 1900. Soon afterwards, several claims were staked in the California and Virgin Creek drainages. At the mouth of the Valley a supply camp arose. Originally called Glacier City it was later renamed Girdwood after James Girdwood. Another mine on Crow Creek located below Girdwood's claims and about 5 miles from the town was operated by the Crow Creek Mining Company from 1906 to 1924, when it was purchased by Arne Erickson. This mine is still in operation and run by the Toohey family as a popular attraction for locals and tourists that want to try their hand at panning for gold.

Though founded as a mining town, the development of Girdwood was spurred by railroad construction which was begun by the Federal Government in 1915. The little town boomed with new businesses. In 1917 Girdwood had about 60 permanent residents. Even then the weekend population swelled to about 300 with visitors from Anchorage. Main Street in Girdwood had 16 buildings, 5 of which were saloons, the most popular being the Little Dipper Inn. Girdwood was built by hard working and fun loving men and women, a characteristic that persists to this day.

The mines closed in the late 1930's and Girdwood became a ghost town until 1949 when construction began on the Seward Highway connecting the seaport of Seward to Anchorage.

Eleven local men formed the Alyeska Ski Corporation in 1954. The first lift, a Pomalift, and a small lodge were opened in January of 1959. Girdwood became a 3rd class city in 1958 and a first class city in the Borough of Anchorage in 1970. Eventually Girdwood became part of the Municipality of Anchorage through unification in 1975.

The Good Friday Earthquake of 1964 caused the Girdwood Townsite to subside below the high tide line of Turnagain Arm. The town was subsequently moved 2 1/2 miles up the Valley to the present location.

In 1960 the first chairlift and a daylodge was built. Francoise de Gunzburg, a Frenchman and a member of the Rothechild Banking family managed to secure a used chairlift from France that was dismantled, shipped to Alaska and rebuilt at Alyeska. In 1962 Alyeska Ski Corp. acquired 233 acres of land at the base of Mt. Alyeska. Much of this land was sold to subsidize the development and operation of the Resort.

In 1967 de Gunzburg sold the resort to Alaska Airlines. Chris von Imhof, the director of tourism for the State of Alaska was hired to run the resort. The original hotel and a second chair lift was constructed on the upper Mountain. This chair was destroyed by an avalanche one year later in 1973 and was rebuilt 500 feet higher in 1974.

Alyeska Resort hosted the 1963 Olympic Trials, the 1969 Junior Nationals, and a 1973 World Cup Race. Alyeska was finally on the map. In 1994, Chair 3 was added and Chair 4 was constructed as a back up to the aging chair one. The original Chair One was replaced by a new Riblet Chair and night lighting was added in 1979.

In October 1980, Alyeska was sold to Seibu Group, a Japanese Corporation heavily involved in hotels and resorts worldwide. Since 1980 Seibu has built a new high speed quad chair to replace chair 2, a fixed quad to replace chair 4 and a 60 passenger tram. Seibu also developed a 308 room luxury hotel and a 30,000 square foot facility that includes a fine restaurant dinning and a skiers cafeteria at the top of the tram.

In December 2006 Alyeska resort was sold to John Byrne III.  An avid skiier who boasts of skiing 100 days a year including 50 days of  Heliskiing.  Alyeska is entering a new and exciting era Mr. Byrne has extensive plans to  improve the existing terrain, develop additional lift capacity and expand into winter creek  He  also is formulating a master plan which will include the redevelopment of the base area with expanded commercial and residential facilities. The next 10 years will surely bring dramatic changes to Alyeska Ski Resort and Gird wood.

Alyeska has gained a name as a training ground for Olympic and World Cup skiers, including Gold Medallists Tommy Moe, Silver Medallist Hillary Lindh, as well as Megan Gerety and snow boarder Rosey Fletcher.

Girdwood is now a thriving Resort Town of about 2000 residents and well on its way to becoming a 4 season destination resort. Girdwood is a popular base for Helisking, and ski area expansion into the Winner Creek basin is now a near certainty. Alyeska has the potential to develop 6000 acres of skiable terrain, rivaling the largest ski resorts in North America.

In the summer Girdwood is the perfect base camp for exploration of Prince William Sound, fishing on the Kenai Peninsula, deep sea fishing in Seward, rafting wild rivers or wildlife watching for whales, eagles, and sheep along Turnagain Arm.