Historic Dena’ina fish cache added to National Register

Dena’ina fish cache

(Anchorage, AK) – State Historic Preservation Officer Judy Bittner welcomes the announcement that the Wassillie Trefon Dena’ina Fish Cache standing at Port Alsworth has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The cache, built around 1920, is a one of the last examples of a traditional, well-crafted log cache in the Bristol Bay region. The elevated 9 x 10 foot structure is a hand-hewn, square-notched log building constructed without nails or spikes. The posts were specially formed to prevent small animals from climbing into the cache. The gable roof is covered with sod. Access is by a notched log ladder to a platform then through a small plank hatch entry.

Wassillie Trefon’s peers acknowledged him as a master woodworker, as do the people in Nondalton today. He built log houses and caches for his family at Miller Creek, Tanalian Point, Old Nondalton and Nondalton.

The cache has been moved several times from its original location at Miller Creek and restored to look as it did originally. The cache now sits in a clearing outside the Lake Clark National Park and Preserver visitor center, adjacent to a Dena’ina fish drying rack.

The cache was added to the National Register, the nation’s catalog of more than 85,000 historic properties worthy of preservation, on June 5.

Matanuska Colony farmhouse added to National Register

(Anchorage, AK) – State Historic Preservation Officer Judy Bittner welcomes the announcement that the Campbell House, an original Matanuska Colony farmhouse built in 1935, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. 

The farmhouse, located south of Palmer on Inner Springer Loop Road, is a rare example of an intact frame-built home from the colony period that still has historical and physical integrity. It joins more than 15 other Colony properties already listed on the Register, according to Bittner.

Campbell House – DNR photo

The house gets its name from George and Onabelle Campbell of Michigan, who drew Lot 54 in the lottery held for colonists to receive farm sites. The Campbells moved into the house in 1935 but left the project that first winter. In 1938, William and Lulubelle Bouwens and eight of their 11 children moved to the farm after a fire destroyed their house on Lot 53. They kept cows, chickens, pigs, geese, sheep and turkeys, and had a big vegetable garden. They sold produce and eggs – the log chicken coop still stands behind the house. The Bouwens family recently sold the Campbell House to Darrin and Sheri Hamming. Using the historic preservation tax credit program, the couple rehabilitated the house for use as a bed and breakfast.

The Campbell House was added to the National Register – the nation’s catalog of more than 85,000 historic properties worthy of preservation – on April 3.

For information about listing an Alaska property in the National Register, please contact the Office of History and Archaeology by calling 907-269-8721. The office address is 550 West 7th Ave., Suite 1310, Anchorage, Alaska 99501-3565.

Cordova’s Igloo Hall added to National Register of Historic Places

Cordova Igloo Hall (Photo courtesy of National Park Service)

Judy Bittner, State Historic Preservation Officer, welcomes the recent announcement that the Pioneers of Alaska Igloo Number 19 building in Cordova has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

“The Pioneers of Alaska has a long history in our state and it’s long overdue that one of its halls be included in the National Register,” Bittner said. The Igloo Hall, which overlooks Cordova’s main street, was added to the National Register – the nation’s catalog of more than 85,000 historic properties worthy of preservation – on Aug. 15. Ever since it was built in 1929, the hall has served as a gathering spot for Pioneers of Alaska members and the Cordova community. It is one of nine buildings in Cordova built before 1930 that remain standing in the original townsite.

The Pioneers, a statewide organization founded at Nome in 1907, gathers and preserves the early history of Alaska. It expanded across the state with local chapters called “Igloos” and “Auxiliaries.” The Cordova Igloo Hall is one of four buildings in Alaska still owned and used by the Pioneers, which has obtained funds from the State of Alaska, the Historic Preservation Fund, and many individual donors to restore the hall while retaining its historic character.

For information regarding listing an Alaska property on the National Register, please contact the Office of History and Archaeology, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, located at 550 West 7th Ave., Suite 1310, Anchorage, Alaska 99501-3565, or call 907-269-8721.

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