August 4, 2012 - Fairbanks (YRE)

Gold was discovered near Fairbanks in 1902, and the Gold Rush was on!

Along the Chena, near the start

The walk starts Downtown and follows the Chena River.   On this stretch you can see some of the earliest buildings from 1904-09, including the first Catholic and Episcopal churches, the Tanana Masonic Club, and the first library.

An Art Deco relic, probably built by the Federal Government during the "Second Gold Rush" in the 1930's.

Pioneer Park was built in 1967 for a centennial exposition.  It offers restaurants, a theater, historical buildings, and a saloon.  You can see the Pioneer Air Museum, the Tanana Valley Railroad Museum, and the Riverboat Nenana. 

 

You can also see the railroad car used by President Warren G. Harding when he visited Fairbanks in July of 1923 to celebrate the completion of the Alaska Railroad.  Harding was the first President to visit Alaska, but he never returned to Washington, DC. He died two weeks later in San Francisco amid an emerging  scandal regarding the Teapot Dome.

At the Cemetery -  Note the planters made from mining dredge buckets

The route then heads back towards downtown and on to the cemetery on the other side of downtown.   

This is a neighborhood of "modest" homes.  Some have amazing gardens.  They grow corn and tomatoes in their small yards.  These items won't grow in Anchorage, but they will grow during the warmer, but shorter, Fairbanks summers.

A small house with a big garden

A tiny well-maintained log cabin home

 

Junk "R" Us

When I say some of these houses are modest, I need to explain that in Alaskan terms.  During the original Gold Rush era, many homes were built from logs.  They were very small because it was difficult to heat a larger house and building materials were expensive and hard to come by.  Some of the houses downtown appear to have been built during that era - they are tiny.  Some of them have additions that have been cobbled together by someone other than a professional builder.  Blue tarps are in evidence.  The yards of some of these houses have become junkyards.

Note the Jerry-rigged additions at the rear of both houses

Blue tarps have many uses

According to one website about Fairbanks:

"Fairbanks has an unique architectural history. Building styles developed far away from those of the rest of the United States, but elements of popular styles from the Lower 49 are evident in many buildings.

The earliest buildings in Fairbanks were made of logs. In 1906, fire ruined much of the original townsite, and only a few buildings survived. Replacements were frame homes and stores using lumber produced at two local sawmills. For the first time, two-story buildings appeared.

Commercial buildings were very simple frame affairs behind more elaborate "false fronts,'' such as those commonly identified with western frontier towns in the Lower 49. Few of these commercial and industrial buildings remain. Most of the buildings left, built before 1940, are houses or cabins.

An old log cabin in need of TLC

Building practices were influenced by the materials available and the harsh climate of the Interior.  Many of the early homes were built with green lumber, which was cheap and abundant, but often twisted and gave over time, resulting in cold, drafty cabins. Winterization techniques, too, were often inefficient in Fairbanks, such as double-hung windows without storm panes, which is common in warmer states.

Before 1950, commercial buildings often were insulated with sawdust, against current building codes. Many had additions added with inadequate foundations, or were built in areas subject to flooding. The result is that many of the historic   buildings in Fairbanks have foundations that have settled. Log buildings suffer the most from the sagging foundations."

I didn't get very far from the cemetery before I was forced to make a detour.  About a block ahead of me I could see an unchained pit bull standing on the sidewalk barking very fiercely.  I made my left turn a block early so as to avoid this dog.

The Rabinowitz State Court Building

The next noteworthy site on this walk was the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center. This newer building houses a variety of organizations that have teamed up to provide all your visitor information needs in one stop. The walk continues past the Rabinowitz State Courthouse to the sod-roofed log cabin headquarters of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog race.  The final point of interest is the obelisk that marks the end of the Alaska Highway at Milepost 1,523.



Walk Route: B+

Walk Documentation: B+
 

Note:  I did not have time to do the full walk, but I did the entire 10k last year, so I have included some observations from both walks..