110-year-old building returns home to Chena
Old Chena townsite building as it was being prepped for the return trip to Chena In early 1901, months before E.T. Barnette’s party landed on the bank of the Chena River, George Belt...
Tagged: Nenana
Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum’s Fordson snow tractor and the Detroit-Arctic Expedition
Fordson snow tractor outside the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum in Fairbanks The odd-looking contraption in the drawing is a Fordson “Snow Motor,” also called a snow tractor. It is basically a Fordson tractor (built...
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....
Harding Car part of Alaska Presidential history
Harding Car at Pioneer Park in 1996 Many Fairbanskans have probably seen the “Denali” Pullman car on display at Pioneer Park, but how many know its history? It was part of the...
Railroad changed Nenana forever
Nenana depot as it looked in 2012 In March 1914, Congress authorized the construction of a government railroad in the Territory of Alaska. The northern terminus of the railroad would be in Fairbanks,...
Taku Chief a relic of Interior Alaska’s early riverboat days
When the tug boat Taku Chief began its career in Southeast Alaska in 1938, the age of steamboating on Interior Alaska rivers was dying. Gold mining, which had spurred a few decades of frenetic...
Fat Albert – abandoned military surplus 6×6 truck along Rex Trail
I an convinced that Alaska would not be nearly so developed had it not been for “government surplus.” At least in the Railbelt and Southcentral, military surplus vehicles and other equipment helped Alaskans survive....
Fishwheels at Nenana
Here are two fish wheels on the bank of the Tanana River just outside Nenana, ready to be put in the water. Fishwheels, which can often be seen along Interior Alaska rivers, actually were...
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church a reminder of Nenana’s early history
Traveling through the small town of Nenana, about 60 miles south of Fairbanks, you might get the impression that it is a relatively new community—the fortuitous juncture of the Alaska Railroad, Parks Highway...
Summer morning at Nenana Native Cemetery
Since my last post was about the Salcha Native cemetery, I thought I’d highlight a trip we made this summer to the native cemetery in Nenana. I have spent almost 30 years in Fairbanks,...
