SS Nenana – The last steamboat to Fairbanks
SS Nenana along the Lower Yukon River during the 1940s (originally posted on 9-11-2012 – revised on 4-30-2018) The SS Nenana has been one of the premier attractions at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks....
Category: Central Interior Alaska
Another old Illinois Street building bites the dust
Up until last summer this building stood at 270 Illinois Street. It was one of the buildings occupied by OK Lumber, which went out of business several years ago. The Alaska Railroad Corporation,...
Charles Adams and the S.S. Lavelle Young were icons of Alaska steamboating
The S.S. Lavelle Young at Fairbanks in 1904 Two riverboats are represented at Pioneer Park: the S.S. Lavelle Young (first commercial steamboat to navigate the Chena River in 1901), and the S.S. Nenana (last...
Improved view of historic houses one of plusses of Illinois Street improvements
The Illinois Street project is bittersweet for me. While it will improve traffic flow through downtown Fairbanks and eliminate some awkward and dangerous traffic situations, it also took out several historic buildings. One of...
Judge Wickersham was civilizing influence in Fairbanks
The Wickersham House in Fairbanks as it looks today Judge James Wickersham was not favorably impressed when he arrived in Fairbanks on April 9, 1903. The judge was traveling to Fairbanks from Circle City...
Minnie Slater’s grave at Birch Hill Cemetery – Fairbanks, Alaska
The white picket fence in this photograph, located on the lower slope of Birch Hill Cemetery just north of Fairbanks, encloses the grave of Minnie Starr Slater. She was married to Charles Slater,...
Presbyterian church in Fairbanks, Alaska – 1910
This drawing shows the Presbyterian church in Fairbanks as it looked in 1910. The Presbyterians were one of the first denominations to establish churches in the fledgling town, building a small wood-frame sanctuary at...
Chatanika schoolhouse, a historic preservation success story
I enjoy tramping through the hills or along back roads, looking for hidden gems — out-of-the-way or forgotten buildings with lots of character. One of those hidden gems is the old Chatanika schoolhouse...
Historic preservation works–at least sometimes– in Fairbanks
It seems that every year one of two old houses, silent testaments to the early years of Fairbanks, burn down, or are torn down to make way for a four-plex or office, or (shudder)...
N.C. Company warehouse in Fairbanks–Gone in the name of progress
Some people say there are two seasons in Fairbanks–Winter and Construction. We are now entering construction season, and work is commencing on improvements to Illinois Avenue and the approach to the new Barnette Street...
