Alaska Historical Commission Actions

Winter/Spring 2025 Meeting, TBA

Certified Local Government Proposals
AHC considered two CLG applications from the Municipality of Anchorage. The total grant request was $79,500 out of $170,000 in funds. OHA expects to open a second CLG grant round in early 2025.

Municipality of Anchorage - Government Hill Wireless Station HSR – Phase II - $30,000
This project is a second-phase continuation of the Government Hill Wireless Station Historic Structure Report (HSR) and pre-development property stabilization work. The Municipality (MOA) recently completed a first-phase HSR through the CLG Grant project (#22005). The second-phase HSR is essential to support continued, time-sensitive efforts to rehabilitate this historic property as recommended in the first-phase HSR, which assessed that the building is in an advanced stage of deterioration and needs stabilization soon.

Completed Grant Application for MoA-Government Hill Wireless Station HSR - Phase II project

Municipality of Anchorage - Old Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church (Eklutna Chapel) Restoration - $49,500
Russian Orthodox Sacred Sites in Alaska, Inc (ROSSIA) will complete the Old Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church (Eklutna Chapel) restoration. The old St. Nicholas church was constructed in Knik, Alaska, around 1870 or as early as 1830. The old St. Nicholas church is the oldest building still standing in the greater Anchorage area. Work priorities include exterior and interior restoration. Exterior work includes removing the bell tower (completed), lifting the chapel, doing foundation work, re-roofing, and re-chinking. Interior work will consist of new heating and electrical systems, insulations, sheetrock, painting, and fire suppression.

Completed Grant Application for MOA - Old Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church (Eklutna Chapel) Restoration Project

The AHC voted 6-0, with one abstaining, to approve funding for both CLG grant proposals.

National Register of Historic Places

Chena Building National Register Nomination
The Chena Building is a rare surviving example of a commercial-style false-front building in Interior Alaska. The 120-ca.-year-old, one-story building is situated on the north bank of the Tanana River, nine miles downriver from Fairbanks, in the vicinity of the Chena Townsite Historic Archaeological District. The building's period of significance starts with its construction sometime after 1905ca., paralleling a stampede to interior Alaska sparked by Felix Pedro's discovery of gold in 1902 and the establishment of the riverside town of Chena built to accommodate gold rush participants heading to the goldfields in 1904.22 The building's significance ends around 1922, when social and commercial trends after World War I led to the boomtown's bust and abandonment, marking the final extension of frontier economics in the American West.

The Chena Building, like many of Alaska's early 20th-century structures, endured several moves, reuses, and eventual neglect between the 1920s and 2020s, while large-scale shifts in the river's course eroded all visual evidence of the Chena townsite. Through a private donation to the State of Alaska, the Chena Building has returned to its historic location, where today, the Alaska State Parks and Outdoor Recreation operates a boat launch and picnic area. While somewhat decrepit and needing repair, the Chena Building's character-defining features continue to convey the town's early economic optimism and speak to the significant historical areas of commerce and community settlement. Thus, the Chena Building is significant on a local level under Criterion A for its association with Fairbanks' gold rush era, the settlement of Chena, its lost competition to Fairbanks, and interior Alaska's boom and bust economy. It also qualifies for listing under Consideration B because moving the building from the original location saved it from the erosional fate of Chena's built environment, thereby making the Chena Building the last standing remnant of the lost townsite at Chena. The Chena Building's return to the historic Chena townsite serves as an excellent interpretive reminder of the long-vanished boomtown, its relationship to the river, and its oft-forgotten contribution to Fairbanks' history.

The Alaska Historical Commission voted 6-0, with one abstaining, concurring that the Chena Building nomination met the National Register requirements under Criteria A at the Local Level and Criteria Consideration B (Moved property). Its associated Areas of Significance were Commerce, Exploration, and settlement, and the Period of Significance was from ca. 1905 to 1922. With the AHC approval, the nomination will be submitted to the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places for listing in the National Register.

Chena Building NR Nomination
Map

Geographic Names Proposals

Mount Carola
Proposal
Map
Resolution

The proposal to name Mount Carola passed 6-1.

Arkose Peak
Proposal
Map
Resolution

The proposal to name an unnamed peak Arkose Peak passed 4-3.

Souvenir Peak
Proposal
Map
Resolution

The proposal to change Arkose Peak to Souvenir Peak passed 5-2.

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