An exceptional archive of 86 original silver print photographs chronicling the transformation of Anchorage Alaska Territory from the village of Ship Creek and the construction of the Seward-Anchorage railroad line by the Alaska Engineering Commission AEC. These striking images capture steamships landing dynamiting of obstructions camp construction unloading of railroad car trucks from Panama and railroad lines under construction with many featuring the sweeping Alaskan vistas in the background.
161959078Anchorage & Seward A.T.: Alaska Engineering Commission AEC Phinney S. Hunt ca. 1916-1917. 4to. 86 silver print photographs sized 6.25 x 8.25 in. nearly all w/ photographer’s imprint w/in negative at lower fore-edge as well as caption negative number and AEC some w/ occasional pencil annotations on verso all preserved in mylar sleeves occasional creasing at corners a couple w/ slight loss at corners in the small blank margin. Recent 3-ring clamshell binder an excellent set of photos with all retaining bright strong contrast. This outstanding photo archive provides not only some of the earliest photographs of Anchorage Alaska Territory but also this immense railroad project first authorized by the US Congress in 1912. The few existing privately-run railroads operating in Alaska at the time including the Alaska Northern Railway and the Tanana Valley Railroad primarily fulfilled the needs of the mining companies carrying resources to sea ports and very little allowance was made for passenger traffic and it was impossible to travel by rail from Ship’s Creek at the Cook Inlet north to Fairbanks. Through an April 1915 executive order President Wilson directed that the newly created Alaska Engineering Commission construct a railroad along the surveyed “Western Route†from Seward or Portage Bay along the Turnagain & Knik Arms of Cook Inlet North through the Suitna Valley and then follow the Nenana River until it joined the Tanana with the intent it would connect eventually to Fairbanks. Employing discarded surplus railroad equipment from the Panama Canal Railroad project and under the direction of engineer Mears who had worked on both the Panama Canal and Great Northern Railroads the tiny tent city of Ship’s Creek swelled to 5500 people within two years and was officially labeled by the Post Office as “Anchorage.†Photos included here reveal the barren original landscape of Ship’s Creek with one of the photos showing the steam launches “Alaska†& “Seagull†who carried cargo and passengers from ships offshore. In addition there are views of the construction of the immense AEC Railway machine shop by Sept. 1916 as well as the newly completed first Railroad Depot in Anchorage with the progression of buildings erected beyond. These early views of the fast developing project portray the Commissary Hospital Bunkhouses finished machine shop interiors of the powder house for blasting along with a view of the AEC’s photo studio and the completed electrical power house. Early street views of the nascent city are quite scarce and one of particular interest shows Fourth Ave. looking East with newly built stores and homes built along both sides of the roadway stretching into the distance. Brutal working conditions continually interfered with the pace of the project with one of the images showing the AEC’s “Electric Thawing Machine†on a sled whie others depict piles of snow work camps in snow and even sternwheeler and docks trapped in an ice flow in March 1917. A couple of the photographs feature the sternwheeler SS Omineca underway which had been originally constructed in 1909 for the Grand Trunk Railway running the Skeena River from 1909-1912 and powered by the original SS Caledonia’s engines. By the end of 1916 60 miles of track had been laid 100 miles were graded and right-of-way cleared for 230 miles with photos in this archive showing AEC Construction camps at various mile markers blasting activity and track laying. At the same time they rehabilitated the bankrupt Alaska Northern Railroad tracks and by Oct. 24 1917 the first AEC Railway train reached the Chickaloon coal mines 74 miles North of Anchorage. The railroad would actually not be finished until 1923 when the Tanana River Bridge was completed and last 57 miles of track to Fairbank converted to standard gauge. Photos also show the Anchorage Baseball Field which featured games for the Cook Inlet Baseball League composed at the time of Matanuska Anchorage and Turnagain Arm teams. There’s also a very fine series of the Decoration Day parade held May 30 1917 depicting many of the main streets and businesses in the background. In addition several photographs show the ocean docks completed which allowed ships to directly dock at Anchorage rather than lightering passengers and cargo to shore prior to 1917. Hunt 1866-1917 originally worked as a California optician before trekking to Valdez Alaska as a gold rush prospector but quickly established himself as a photographer opening his studio and documenting Valdez and development of the region. He would bring his wife and children to Alaska by 1907. He later secured work as one of the AEC’s official photographers shooting some of the early survey work by 1914 and through the project until suffering a heart attack Oct. 14 1917 in Seward AK. Hunt’s son A.O. Hunt also worked as an assistant photographer for the AEC. A few of these images appear as negatives in the Alaska State Library Historical Collections with a couple shown in their Digital Archives and some appear in the Alaska Engineering Commission archive at the U of W Collect. No. PH0495 but the bulk of that collection features photographs by James McPherson H.G. Kaiser and A.J. Johnson who were the other official photographers on the project; See: Phinney S. Hunt Photographs of Alaska 1902-1909 Photographs in and around Valdez and Sitka Alaska University of Washington Special Collections; Phinney S. Hunt Obituary Alaska Railroad Record Vol. I No. 49 Oct. 16 1917 p. 389. Alaska Engineering Commission, AEC, Phinney S. Hunt, unknown
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