Manley Roadhouse – Serving hospitality since 1903
Manley Roadhouse as it looked in 1994 John Karshner was prospecting for gold when he stumbled across a hot springs in the hills just north of a small Tanana River tributary in 1902. Karshner...
Tagged: Alaska
Chena River on Thanksgiving day — sunny and beautiful
Thanksgiving day here is Fairbanks. My wife and I walked down to the river and back just now. It is clear and cold, about -5 degrees F. Actually pretty good weather for the end...
Main School, now City Hall, is a Fairbanks fixture
Soon after Fairbanks was established, residents began clamoring for schools. In the fall of 1903 (even before the city was incorporated), a small private school opened. Thirteen students and their teacher met in a...
Kickstarter campaign starting soon for “Interior Sketches II”
This is for fans of my historical essays, drawings, and first book, “Interior Sketches, Ramblings around Interior Alaska historic sites.” Response to the first book was positive, and since I have continued to write...
Birch seeds and catkin scales as miniature leaves for dioramas
So all you Northern types who live surrounded by birch trees–there are those winter days when the wind blows and the snow ends up with piles of birch seeds and birch catkin scales...
Icy tree in the winter sun – Fairbanks in November
Had a friend tell me about an ice-laden tree near the old library at the corner of 1st and Cowles here in Fairbanks. The tree stands beneath the downspout of the building’s gutter and...
The early Richardson Highway and the Gibson stage line
The Richardson Highway stretches 368 miles from Valdez on Prince William Sound to Fairbanks in the Tanana River Valley. In its earliest form — the Valdez-Fairbanks Trail — it was the dominant overland route...
Roald Amundsen cabin in Eagle – a link with bygone era of Polar exploration
The small frame house shown in the drawing, located in Eagle, Alaska, is where Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) spent several months during the winter of 1905-06. He had mushed to Eagle, 400 miles...
KFAR Radio, Cap Lathrop’s gift to Interior Alaska
KFAR radio transmitter building on Farmers Loop road Within a few years of commercial radio’s birth in the Lower 48, radio stations began popping up in Alaska. In 1922 the Northern Commercial Company (NC...
Autumn hike to Colorado Creek Roadhouse – Chena River State Recreation Area
My grandson and I went looking for the old Colorado Creek Roadhouse this past weekend. It was one of three roadhouses built in the early 1900s along the old winter trail from Fairbanks to...
