South Addition Historic Context Statement & Building Survey - Anchorage, Alaska
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South Addition Historic Context Statement & Building Survey - Anchorage, Alaska Prepared for the Municipality of Anchorage by BGES, Inc. October 2012 SOUTH ADDITION HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT ANCHORAGE, ALASKA [11115] Prepared for BGES & MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE Page & Turnbull 30 JUNE 2012 imagining change in historic environments through design, research, and technology FINAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS MAYOR DAN SULLIVAN ANCHORAGE ASSEMBLY Ernie Hall, Chair Debbie Ossiander Patrick Flynn Bill Starr Harriet Drummond Dick Traini Elvi Gray-Jackson Paul Honeman Adam Trombley Chris Birch ANCHORAGE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION Connie Yoshimura, Chair Terry Parks, Vice Chair Stacey Dean Ray Hickel Peter Mulcahy Bruce Phelps Dana Pruhs Richard Wilson ANCHORAGE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION Michelle Ritter, Chair Elizabeth Grover, Vice Chair Bobbie Bianchi Debbie Corbett, MA John Crittenden, AIA Darrell Lewis Richard Porter, Knik Tribal Council Kim Varner Wetzel SOUTH ADDITION COMMUNITY COUNCIL Doug Johnson, President Elise Huggins, Vice President Kathie Weeks, Secretary Melanie San Angelo, Treasurer MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE – COMMUNITY PLANNING Jerry T. Weaver, Jr., Director Carol Wong, Supervisor, Long Ranger Planning Section Sue Perry, Principal Office Associate Joni Wilm, Associate Planner, Urban Designer Kristine Bunnell, Senior Planner, Project Manager CONSULTANT TEAM BGES, Inc., Anchorage, AK Page & Turnbull, San Francisco, CA Allied GIS, Anchorage, AK Historic Context Statement South Addition Final Anchorage, Alaska TABLE OF CONTENTS EX ECU TIVE SU M M ARY ............................................................................... 1 I. INTROD U CTION .................................................................................... 3 A. PROJECT BACKGROUN D & PURPOSE ....................................................... 3 B. D EFIN ITION OF GEOGRAPH ICAL AREA .................................................... 3 C. M ETH OD OLOGY & RESEARCH .................................................................. 4 PROJECT TEAM ...................................................................................................................... 5 D . H OW TO USE TH IS D OCUM EN T ............................................................... 6 II. PREVIOU S SU RVEYS, STU D IES AND REPORTS ................................ 7 A. PATTERN S OF TH E PAST .............................................................................. 7 B. ALASKA H ERITAGE RESOURCES SURVEY (AH RS) ...................................... 9 C. N ATION AL REGISTER OF H ISTORIC PLACES .......................................... 10 III. G U ID ELINES FOR EVALU ATION........................................................ 11 A. SUM M ARY OF SIGN IFICAN T TH EM ES ....................................................... 11 RELATIN G TH EM ES W ITH PERIOD S OF D EVELOPM EN T .............................................. 11 B. SUM M ARY OF PROPERTY TYPES .............................................................. 13 C. EVALUATION CRITERIA ............................................................................. 14 N ATION AL REGISTER OF H ISTORIC PLACES .................................................................. 14 CRTIERIA CON SID ERATION S ............................................................................................ 15 IV. H ISTORIC CONTEX T ........................................................................... 19 A. PRE-H ISTORY & ALASKA N ATIVE PEOPLES (TO 1777) ........................... 19 ASSOCIATED PROPERTY TYPES & REGISTRATION REQ UIREM EN TS .......................... 20 B. RUSSIAN & EARLY AM ERICAN PERIOD S (1778 - 1914) ........................... 21 EXPLORIN G ALASKA........................................................................................................... 21 RUSSIAN TRAD ERS & M ISSION ARIES ................................................................................ 21 U.S. TERRITORY ................................................................................................................... 21 ASSOCIATED PROPERTY TYPES & REGISTRATION REQ UIREM EN TS .......................... 24 C. EARLY AN CH ORAGE (1915 - 1938) ........................................................... 25 ALASKA RAILROAD & TH E FOUN D IN G OF AN CHORAGE ............................................ 26 H OM ESTEAD IN G & AGRICULTURE .................................................................................. 30 AVIATION ............................................................................................................................. 34 ECON OM IC D EPRESSION .................................................................................................. 36 30 June 2012 i Historic Context Statement South Addition Final Anchorage, Alaska ASSOCIATED PROPERTY TYPES & REGISTRATION REQ UIREM EN TS (1915-1938)...... 39 D . W ORLD W AR II (1939 - 1945)..................................................................... 48 PREPARIN G FOR W AR: M ILITARY BUILD UP ..................................................................... 49 SOUTH AD D ITION ’S FIRST SUBD IVISION S ...................................................................... 52 FED ERAL AN D CORPORATE H OUSIN G PROJECTS ........................................................ 58 SOUTH AD D ITION AN N EXED .......................................................................................... 61 ASSOCIATED PROPERTY TYPES & REGISTRATION REQ UIREM EN TS (1939-1945)...... 61 E. POST-W AR ERA (1946 - 1967) ..................................................................... 70 H OUSIN G SH ORTAGE & SUBURBAN IZATION ............................................................... 71 COLD W AR D EFEN SES ....................................................................................................... 80 H IGH W AYS & AIRPORTS ..................................................................................................... 80 ALASKA STATEH OOD ........................................................................................................ 81 1964 EARTH Q UAKE: D AM AGE & REBUILD IN G ............................................................... 82 ASSOCIATED PROPERTY TYPES & REGISTRATION REQ UIREM EN TS (1946 – 1968) ... 86 F. M OD ERN AN CH ORAGE (1968 - PRESEN T) ............................................ 101 ASSOCIATED PROPERTY TYPES & REGISTRATION REQ UIREM EN TS ........................ 103 V. REFERENCES ........................................................................................ 104 A. BIBLIOGRAPH Y .......................................................................................... 104 PUBLISH ED W ORKS .......................................................................................................... 104 PUBLIC RECORD S ............................................................................................................. 105 N EW SPAPERS, M AGAZIN ES & JOURN ALS ...................................................................... 106 BROCH URES & OTHER EPH EM ERA ................................................................................ 106 TH ESES & UN PUBLISH ED W ORKS .................................................................................. 107 IN TERN ET SOURCES ........................................................................................................ 107 B. EN D N OTES ................................................................................................ 111 30 June 2012 ii Historic Context Statement South Addition Final Anchorage, Alaska EX ECU TIVE SU M M ARY This Historic Context Statement presents an overview of the South Addition Survey Area’s history with a specific emphasis on describing the historic themes and patterns that have contributed to the neighborhood’s physical development. It is intended to support the identification and evaluation of historic properties in the neighborhood. Like all of Anchorage, the South Addition was used by early Alaska Native Peoples for fishing and hunting, but the built environment as it stands today primarily reflects the events and themes from the construction of the Alaska Railroad in 1914 and beyond. The northwest corner of the South Addition Community Council area was part of Anchorage’s original townsite, which was platted in May 1915. However, the majority of the neighborhood was laid out as the South Addition—the first expansion of the original townsite—and the Third Addition. The South Addition was platted in August 1915 and comprised 49 blocks bounded by 9th Avenue, C Street, Chester Creek, and the Cook Inlet. Blocks were divided into parcels that grew progressively larger in size the further south they were located. The Alaska Engineering Commission created 5- and 8.3-acre parcels because it wanted to encourage agricultural development around Anchorage. It is important to note that the land for the Anchorage townsite and the South Addition was set aside, platted, and distributed without asking permission of the Alaska Native Peoples who had inhabited the region for centuries before the arrival of the railroad. W hen Anchorage incorporated in 1920, the original city limits extended south to 11th Avenue and east to East G Street (now Gambell Street). However, a majority of the South Addition neighborhood remained unincorporated until after W orld W ar II. Isolated from downtown by the Delaney Park Strip (then a fire break and later an airstrip), the large parcels of the South and