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...
Kolmakovsky Redoubt blockhouse Last year the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North put the finishing touches on a re-built Russian blockhouse near the woods behind the museum. The blockhouse was built in...
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...
Davidson Ditch inverted siphon across U.S. Creek “Ditch” is such a mundane word and certainly doesn’t accurately describe the Davidson Ditch, the 90-mile long system of open earthwork canals, steel pipe and tunnel that...
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...
On Monday of this week we drove to Sourdough Creek, about 70 miles up the Steese Highway. We have friends whose family owns an old mining camp up there. Borough land records say the...
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,...
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...
The S.S. Lavelle Young at Fairbanks in 1904 Two riverboats are represented at Pioneer Park: the S.S. Lavelle Young (first commercial steamboat to navigate the Chena River in 1901), and the S.S. Nenana (last...
