Consitution Hall at Univeristy of Alaska Fairbanks played important part in state’s formation

Ernest Patty’s tenure as president of the University of Alaska (from 1953-1960) was a time of building. According to Terrence Cole’s book, The Cornerstone on College Hill, during those seven years the faculty almost...

A few old house in downtown Fairbanks west of Cowles Street

Spring is one of my favorite times for taking photo of old buildings.The lack of leaves on the trees provides a better view (at least for the purpose of checking out architectural detail. These...

Nenana Native cemetery a peaceful place to rest

On the south slope of Toghotthele Hill (pronounced tog-hot-teelee), across the Tanana River from Nenana, sits the Nenana Native Cemetery. It is a wonderfully peaceful place, shaded by aspen, cottonwood, birch and spruce trees....

Historic buildings in downtown Anchorage, Alaska – Spring 2014

Kimball Building, 504 W. 5th Avenue – 1915 I was in Anchorage this past weekend talking pictures of old buildings. While the downtown area is now given over mostly to modern multi-story office, commercial...

Denali from the Parks Highway in late April 2014

Drove down to Anchorage this past Friday. Came back on Sunday. Weather on Friday was cloudy with periodic snow showers through Broad Pass. Couldn’t see much of anything. Sunday was clear. This is a...

From Fairbanks to Chicken, a long road for the FE Company’s Dredge No. 4

Chicken dredge in 1999 The Fairbanks Exploration Company’s (FE Co.) Dredge No. 4 (also called the Pedro dredge) in Chicken originally operated along Pedro Creek just north of Fairbanks. Built by the Yuba Manufacturing...

Empress Theater brought several firsts to Fairbanks

Empress Theater as it looked in 2005, when the second floor still had one of its original multi-pane windows Austin “Cap” Lathrop never cut corners. He felt that doing a job right the first...

Northern Commercial Company helped city of Eagle survive

If you have an eye for detail the front door is a give-away. Otherwise, glancing at Eagle’s old Northern Commercial Company (NC Co.) store, shown in the drawing, you might be deceived into thinking...

2nd Avenue cabin in Fairbanks was a safe haven for Clara Rust in 1909

Clara Rust cabin on 2nd Avenue as it looked in 1990 When 18-year-old Clara Hickman first set foot in Fairbanks in the fall of 1908, it wasn’t from a stage just arrived over the...