Map - Eagle River (Anchorage) (Eagle River)

Eagle River is a community within the Municipality of Anchorage situated on the Eagle River, for which it is named, between Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Chugach State Park in the Chugach Mountains. Its ZIP code is 99577. Settled by homesteaders, Eagle River has been annexed to the Municipality of Anchorage since the 1970s—a relationship that is, at times, complicated. On the one hand, Eagle River functions as an Anchorage suburb, with a number of Eagle River residents working in, shopping or participating in community life in the Anchorage bowl. Much of the community is also made up of residents from nearby Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. On the other hand, the community is itself a significant business hub between Wasilla and Anchorage, offering shopping, restaurants, recreation and employment. Secession efforts have from time to time gained traction by residents who would like Eagle River legally regarded as a separate community. Eagle River also has a close relationship with its neighboring community to the north, Chugiak, with which it shares some history. If Eagle River were not part of the Municipality of Anchorage, it would be classified as one of the five largest cities in Alaska.

The Eagle River (and Chugiak) area was settled by homesteaders and prospered on agricultural activities. The name Eagle River was first reported in 1939 by the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Eagle River post office was established in 1961.

In 1964, the state legislature first divided the state into seven boroughs. Over the next decade, many area residents objected to the Chugiak-Eagle River area being lumped in as part of a Greater Anchorage-Area Borough. The Chugiak-Eagle River Borough was established in 1974, only to be dissolved shortly thereafter when the arrangement was ruled unconstitutional by the Alaska Supreme Court.

In spite of some local opposition, both Chugiak and Eagle River became annexed to the Municipality of Anchorage when the City of Anchorage and the Greater Anchorage Area Borough were unified in 1975. Efforts to secede from the Municipality surfaced around 2000, and then became less prominent for a while as the community saw an influx of individuals with social and economic ties to Anchorage and the nearby Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson. However, secession talks began again in 2019 from a small group of community members.