Alaska VIP Club

First, Hans and Gerry Kirschner tried farming their Spenard property on McRae road… but they were not successful. Then, in 1951, they opened the Garden of Eatin’ and the rest is Anchorage history. It wasn’t much to look at. It was just an old Quonset Hut. But the food they served quickly became the talk of the town. And the Garden of Eatin’ was the place to go. Snow White Laundry and CleanersIn 19...

The Old Federal Building was Completed in 1941You saw this historic building every time you went to see a movie at the 4th Avenue Theatre or the Empress Theatre in downtown Anchorage. Located right across the street from the 4th Avenue Theater, the old Federal Building sits on the site originally designated in 1915 for the Federal Reserve Bank. The first building on the site was a Post Office, the...

What’s a Mall? When Mike of the Anchorage Memories Club was 15 years old, his family made a trip from Anchorage to San Antonio, Texas to visit relatives. One day, Mike’s aunt said, “how would y'all (that’s Texan for “you all”) like to go to the mall?”Almost immediately, a puzzled Mike asked, “what’s a mall?” Being raised in Anchorage back in the day, there was no mall. Nothing There But Acres of S...

Hello, Mike and Mary here. Thank you for letting us into your inbox. If you are a new subscriber, welcome! Every issue of the Anchorage Memories Club is a treasure chest of memories that will bring back your long forgotten memories. For access to the Alaska Library of stories, e-books and audio stories, you’ll need to become a Paid Subscriber. Anchorage Memories Club is a reader-supported publicat...

In the photo above is Russel Hyde MerrillOur story begins in Anchorage in 1923.Because of a thick forest on the south side of Anchorage, Alaska, there was a concern that if a fire started in the woods, the new town would be destroyed. With that in mind, Arthur W. Shonbeck organized the entire town of Anchorage to create a fire break by clearing a large strip of land between what is now 9th and 10t...

It all began in the summer of 1900.“Tarantula” Jack Smith and Clarence Warner were prospecting along the east edge of the Kennicott Glacier. They thought the large green patches on the mountain in front of them were grass. But it was too high up the mountain for grass. So the two decided to climb the mountain. Up close, they discovered the green cliffs were, actually exposed copper. They took samp...

In the photo above is the old Bettles Trading Post on the Koyukuk riverDriven by gold fever, you’re constantly looking for the next big strike. The Klondike gave up a lot of gold, but quickly became played out. So many stampeders were looking for another strike to cool their fever. They found one. A man named Johnny Folger discovered gold near the middle fork of the Koyukuk River in 1893. When wor...

Alaska’s mountains are tall, commanding, and majestic. But mount Gordon Lyon in the Chugach mountains, overlooking Alaska’s largest city, has become special to the citizens of Anchorage. Illuminated during those long winter nights, the “Site Summit Star” was a gift to Anchorage from the soldiers at Site Summit. Nike Site SummitThe U.S. Army established a Nike Hercules missile installation on Mount...

Meet Elbridge Truman “E.T.” Barnette, (1863–1933)The man who founded Fairbanks. He was a riverboat captain, a banker, and a swindler. Gold FeverWhen the steamship Portland arrived at the West Coast with its one ton of gold from the Alaska gold strike, like many others, E.T. Barnett came down with a bad case of gold fever. He decided to take the “Rich Man’s Route” to avoid Skagway and the passes. H...

In the photo above is the Evan Jones Coal Mine at the top of a 6 percent grade up from Sutton on the Matanuska River. But the story of coal in Alaska doesn’t start with the Evan Jones mine. The subject of the oil painting above is Captain Nathaniel Portlock. In 1786, British trader, Nathaniel Portlock first discovered coal in Alaska at a location named Coal Cove. That area is now Port Graham on th...

From 1954 to 1985, Anchorage kids and adults enjoyed spending time in the downtown Loussac Library at 5th and F streets. The picture above is from 1955.So who was this Loussac fellow? His full name was Zadrich Joshua Loussac, also known as Zachary or Zachariah or even “Zach”. He was born to Jewish parents in Pokrov, Russia (near Moscow) in 1882.Gold FeverAt the age of 18, Loussac arrived in New Yo...

Can you name the Anchorage kid’s TV shows in the picture above? Remember how much fun it was to get a glass of milk, some cookies, and to take a seat in front of the family TV to watch your favorite Anchorage local kid’s TV show? In this edition of the Alaska VIP Club, we’re remembering a few of your favorites. By the way, the shows in the picture above are:In the top row, starting left, is KoKo t...

What places come to mind when you remember your favorite restaurants in Anchorage, Alaska? Here are just a few to get you started.* The White Spot* The original A&W Drive-In* La Cabana* A wonderful steak at Club Paris* Anchorage's Tastee Freez* Peggy's Airport Café* Benny's Food TruckRemember Bob’s Big Boy? Here’s a memory from Julie:“My favorite restaurant in Anchorage was the Grizzly Burger...

Pictured above is the Muldoon homestead, built in the winter of 1940 - 1941To get to his Homestead, He needed a RoadMuldoon Road in Anchorage, is named after Arnold L Muldoon who actually built the road from the Glenn Highway to his homestead. His original road was a “corduroy road”, which was made by clearing a path and then tree trunks were laid across the ground. Arnold’s path quickly became kn...

In the photo above is an explorer’s 1916 camp in the Valley of Ten Thousand SmokesFor five days in 1912, the Alaska Peninsula experienced violent earthquakes. Then the Mount Katmai volcano erupted in southern Alaska, 265 miles southwest of Anchorage. The explosion of the eruption was so strong that it destroyed the top of Mount Katmai and a new crater was formed. In addition, an entirely new volca...

On Christmas Eve, 1959, a small booth sitting on the roof of the Bun Drive-In, a burger place in Anchorage, Alaska, became home to a new program on KENI radio, called The Coke Show. And it became a huge hit. Long before cell phones, Anchorage teens who were listening to the Coke Show, picked up their rotary dial phones and called in their dedications and song requests to DJ Ron Moore. And Ron woul...

The tiny coastal town of Portage, was located about 47 miles southeast of Anchorage, Alaska, on the Seward Highway. It used to sit on the shore of Cook Inlet. More about that later in this edition. The town was an early transportation hub connecting the coastal areas with the interior of Alaska. The port at Portage was busy with both cargo and passengers. There were also railroad facilities. Altho...

His love for the mountain, known as Denali, moved him to create wonderful paintings. Mountains treat Anchorage, Alaska to the glories of summer with a splash of fireweed, a reddish flower that graces many mountains in the Great Land. But as winter approaches, “Termination Dust”, otherwise known as snow, covers the mountain tops. In early fall, when residence see Termination Dust, they know that wi...

Remember the name and the picture on the milk carton of the young lady on ice skates with the fur-trimmed parka? That was as much a part of your life in Anchorage as Gilman’s bread or going to see a movie at the 4th Avenue Theatre. Most of us had a carton of Matanuska Maid milk on the table at breakfast. And we all remember that the young lady on the carton was known as the Matanuska Maid. The dai...

While the Klondike gold fields were in Canada, along the Yukon River, the cheapest entrance was through Skagway, Alaska, or Dyea which was located across the Lynn Canal. It’s estimated that 100,000 prospectors, known as “stampeders” packed the docks headed for Skagway and Dyea on their way to the Klondike in 1897.Most left for Alaska by steam ship from Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco. Ships t...

In the spring of 1915, over 2,000 prospective workers and merchants assembled at the mouth of Ship Creek. And more were arriving every day. Shore Access was DifficultPictured above, unloading a bargeSteam Ships anchored in Cook Inlet sent out small launches that brought passengers to shore on Ship Creek Flats. It was a muddy mess. Horse and foot traffic slogged their way through mud over corduroy...

Scotland has the Loch Ness monster, also known as “Nessie”.But did you know that Alaska has the Illiamna Lake Monster, also known as “Illie”?Alaska Has How Many Lakes? Alaska has over 3 million unnamed natural lakes, and about 3,197 officially named lakes. Iliamna LakeThe largest lake in Alaska is Iliamna Lake, located in Southwest Alaska at the north end of the Alaska Peninsula, about 100 miles f...

What Are Your Memories of the Spa? Here are just a few from a post about the Spa on Anchorage Memories.comEric remembers:“Learned to swim there. Bussed over from Clark Junior High. How did we have the time to swim before we had to get back to class?”Barbara had this to say:“For two weeks, first thing in the morning a busload of us were taken to the Spa. It was great to have swimming lessons. I sti...

As the story goes, when the Anchorage Times Newspaper reporters got off work in the 1960s, they would head over to Club 25. Once there, they would buy Nellie Brown a beer (her favorite was Olympia) and she would tell stories about the very early days of Anchorage. They Met in Cordova, AlaskaJohn “Jack” Brown met Nellie Edith Shepard in Cordova, Alaska in 1911.The two were married on May 1, 1912, i...

Passengers on Cruise Ships enjoy part of the Tongass National Forest’s 11,000 miles of Southeastern Alaska coastline. 80 percent of Alaska’s southeast panhandle. The national forest designation was made in 1907 by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. The Tongass National Forest is home to 32 communities and 70,000 people. Called the “Crown Jewel” by the U.S. Forest Service, the Tongass, a vast fores...