2017 Sketches of Alaska calendars are out

I just picked up calendars from the printer. These calendars, including the cover drawing, feature 14 historic sites from Deadwood Creek near Central to Eureka Lodge along the Glenn Highway. I will be selling...

Berry Camp, Clarence Berry’s impact on our mining history

Clarence Berry had major impact on Interior Alaska mining history

Berry Camp along Eagle Creek at about Mile 103 of the Steese Highway Clarence Berry was one of the “Kings of the Klondike,” that small cohort of early gold-seekers who made fortunes in the...

Minnie Street Bridge and Northside Grocery and Gas brought Slaterville into the modern age during 1950s

Northside Grocery as it looked in 1969 After 1939, when construction began at Ladd Field, and well into the 1950s, Fairbanks experienced a population explosion. Terrence Cole’s report, Historic Resources of the Minnie Street...

Marge Gull painting of the second Richardson Roadhouse

This is the second of three roadhouses that operated at the former town of Richardson, about 75 miles south of Fairbanks—295 miles from Valdez. The first roadhouse, built by Jacob Samuelson near the Tanana...

1950s-era Tamarac Inn in Fairbanks being renovated

The Tamarac Inn, a small motel that was built in the early 1950s, is currently undergoing renovation. The building was actually pieced together from surplussed military housing units from Ladd Field that weren’t needed...

Hi-Yu Mine was one of the Fairbanks area’s most successful hard-rock gold mines

  The Hi-Yu mine as it looked in the 1990s About 25 miles northeast of Fairbanks sits one of the area’s most successful lode mines, now abandoned and decaying. The Hi-Yu mine is located...

Successful launch party for new book, “Interior Sketches II.”

This is a belated post about the launch party for my new book, “Interior Sketches II. More ramblings around Interior Alaska historic sites. The launch party was held at my favorite books store, Gulliver’s...

Marge Gull painting of Overland Roadhouse, 53 miles from Fairbanks near Harding Lake

This is a painting by Marge of Overland Roadhouse. It was  located four to five miles south of Harding Lake and was established in about 1909. By the 1920s the proprietor was also operating...