Inside some of the ordinary-looking houses in downtown Fairbanks are hidden log cabins dating from the city’s earliest days. There are also bits of area history hidden inside some of the larger commercial building...
Here is a Holt 5-ton tractor, probably dating from about 1924. Holt Manufacturing is credited with developing the first practical crawler-type tractor in 1904. The company named its creation the “Caterpillar” tractor. Holt merged...
When Episcopal Bishop Peter Trimble Rowe mushed into Fairbanks in February 1904, he found a certified boom-town. The previous time an Episcopal priest had visited the gold camp, in March 1903, it consisted of...
Here are some historic building on the UAF campus that are worth visiting. Bunnell House–the residence of the school’s first president, Charles Bunnell. Bult in 1921, it is one of the oldest buildings on...
Fairbanks’ first public library (pictured in the drawing) is a direct result of Episcopal Church efforts to provide reading materials for residents of Alaska’s frontier settlements. Hudson Stuck, Episcopal Archdeacon of the Yukon, wrote...
Architectural historian Alison Hogland, author of Buildings of Alaska, writes that the Lacey Street Theater, “is the finest Art Deco building in Fairbanks.” The theater has graced the corner of Lacey Street and Second...
One of the iconic buildings along the Fairbanks riverfront is the old Masonic Temple at 809 First Ave. Fraternal organizations were extremely popular in Alaska’s fledgling towns. The Arctic Brotherhood, Eagles, Elks, Freemasons, Moose,...
Caterpillar Thirty Here are two crawler tractors I saw at the Circle Mining District Historical Museum in Central. McCormick Deering T40
Here is a photo of an old steam dragline at the Circle Mining District Historical Museum in Central, Alaska. I couldn’t find a manufacturer’s name or model number anywhere. I’m thinking maybe it’s an...
The Fairbanks Exploration Company’s Gold Dredge No. 8 at Fox (shown in the drawing) is perhaps the most visible and well-known dredge in the Fairbanks area, but the FE Co. actually operated eight of...
