A Creek, a Hill & a Forty book just published
My newest book, A Creek, a Hill & a Forty: The early years of Alaska’s Matanuska Colony, seen through a colonist’s letter home—Margaret Miller’s story, has just been published. The book is a firsthand...
Category: Matanuska-Sustina Valleys
Matanusk and Sustna Valleys in Southcentral Alaska
Palmer train depot served as a link between Matanuska Colony and the rest of Alaska
Prior to construction of the Alaska Railroad through the Matanuska Valley, there was little development in the area that would one day be Palmer. One of the first white men in the valley was...
Sutton has a lengthy coal mining history
Sutton, about 15 miles northeast of Palmer on the Glenn Highway, owes its existence to coal mining. Geologist G.C. Martin explored the area for the U.S.G.S in 1905 and reported an estimated 61 square...
A death plays a part in the creation of Petersville Road
Petersville Road began as short cut to Peters Creek and Cache Creek mining areas The 1929 Ford Model AA dump truck shown in the drawing sits in front of the Trapper Creek Museum, at...
Art show at Wasilla Museum in September – “Ramblings through Mat-Su history”
Featuring drawings and descriptions of historic sites around the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The show will be at the Wasilla Museum and Visitor Center from September 9th through October 7th. Open reception on Friday, September...
Alaska Railroad’s historic Engine 557 may soon return to the rail
The engine in the drawing is Alaska Railroad No. 557, a Consolidation-type steam locomotive. Consolidation is the U.S. designation for the locomotive’s wheel-configuration – 2-8-0 – with 2 leading wheels, 8 drive wheels, and...
Glenn Highway’s King Mountain Lodge was once an essential stop
The Glenn Highway, which winds along the Matanuska River before climbing over Tahneta Pass to the Copper River Basin, opened in 1943. In the late 1940s the roughly 145-mile section of narrow, gravel-surfaced road...
Wasilla, Alaska sprang forth from a railroad construction camp
The 1896 Cook Inlet Gold Rush attracted hundreds of gold-seekers to Upper Cook Inlet. A few of those prospectors followed Willow Creek, a tributary of the Susitna River, into the Talkeetna Mountains. According to...
Matanuska Experiment Farm survives government ups and downs
Manager’s house at Matanuska Experiment Farm in 1918. The drawing is based on a photograph in the Alaska Engineering Commission collection at the Anchorage Museum. The Matanuska Experiment Farm, located 38 miles northeast of Anchorage...
Herning/Teeland store is one of oldest buildings in Wasilla
Herning/Teeland store as it looked in 2015. Except for the side deck and the front signage, the building looks much the same today as it did when Orville Herning owned it in the early...
