This is a painting of the first Paxson’s Roadhouse, 172 miles from Fairbanks (188 miles from Valdez). In the winter of 1905-06, Alvin Paxson operated a tent-based roadhouse near Isabel Pass, along the section...
The Catholic Church sent Father Francis Monroe (Society of Jesus) to Alaska in 1894. He spent several years at missions along the Lower Yukon River before moving to the Upper Yukon after the Klondike...
Wilbur Brothers Sheet Metal, in one form or another, has been a family-owned Fairbanks business since 1914. During the winter of 1913-14, Alden Wilbur Sr., who was living in Seattle with his wife and...
From the 1911 completion of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway (CR&NW) until the mid 1930s, Cordova’s economy was primarily dependent on the railway and the shipment of copper ore from the mines at...
With skiing’s long history in Nordic countries, it is not surprising the Swedes, Norwegians, Danes and Finns entering Alaska at the turn of the 20th century brought their skiing traditions with them. According to...
The Russian-American Company (RAC) charter stipulated that its employees could not reside permanently in Alaska, having to return to Russia at the end of their contracts. However, by the 1820s, the RAC had a...
The community of Copper Center is located on the Copper River’s west bank, just north of the Klutina River. It was founded in 1898 as a trading post along the trail from Valdez to...
The Salty Dawg Saloon has been a Homer Spit landmark for more than 60 years. Part of the structure dates to the end of the 19th century, when the Spit was an on again,...
The Spanish explorer Salvadore Fidalgo led a 1790 expedition to the Pacific Northwest and Alaska in an effort to bolster Spanish claims to North America’s west coast. Fidalgo arrived in Prince William Sound at...
The building shown in the drawing, at 500 Third St. in Cordova, was originally the home of Samuel Blum and his family. Blum was a banker and merchant who was active in Southeast and...
