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: Tanana River
Marge Gull painting of the second Richardson Roadhouse
This is the second of three roadhouses that operated at the former town of Richardson, about 75 miles south of Fairbanks—295 miles from Valdez. The first roadhouse, built by Jacob Samuelson near the Tanana...
Tok, Alaska–a community built for the open road
1962 Kenworth truck with Holmes model 750 25-ton wrecker seen in Tok in 2011 Tok, with 1300 residents, is the largest community in the Upper Tanana Valley in Eastern Interior Alaska. Athabascan Indians have...
The changing roadhouses of Richardson, Alaska
Richardson Roadhouse in the 1960s Opening and operating a roadhouse in Interior Alaska was always a gamble. A poorly chosen location could hobble a roadhouse’s ability to attract travelers, new routes might bypass a...
Modern birch-bark canoe at Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center evokes traditional Athabascan culture
This traditional Athabascan birch-bark canoe is on display at the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center in Fairbanks. It was constructed in 2013 by a Folk School Fairbanks class. The boreal forest (also...
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...
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....
Alaska Road Commission’s Big Delta ferry – of roads, truckers and tolls
Ferryman’s cabin at Big Delta When the Alaska Road Commission (ARC) was created in 1905, it undertook the herculean task of building roads and trails throughout the Territory. One of its first projects was...
Episcopal missionaries established Tanacross 100 years ago
2012 marked the 100th anniversary of St. Timothy’s Church in Tanacross. The church was one of a string of missions the Episcopal Church established along the Tanana River in the early 1900s to serve...
