The F.E. Company industrial site : historic resources and preservation potential
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Date
1993-08
Authors
Reckard, M. K.
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Abstract
Large scale corporate mining operations had a broad impact on the
sparsely settled areas of western North America in the early
twentieth century. The Fairbanks Exploration Company's gold
dredging operations were probably the most remote of these, and
their Townsite on Illinois Street is one of the best preserved and
most coherent examples of this development, with national
historical significance. It has regional importance as the
headquarters of the dominant force in the economy of Interior
Alaska in the 1920s and 30s. It is significant architecturally, as
it contains much of the finest local residential, commercial, and
industrial architecture of the period. It contains important
examples of period technology and engineering, including a complete
collection of machine tools and the region's first concrete and
steel framed buildings. There is little doubt that the Townsite is
the most important historic site in Fairbanks, perhaps all of
Interior Alaska, and the F.E.'s Industrial Complex is its most
important part. Most of the historic resources of the Townsite, long an almost
forgotten part of Fairbanks, will soon be gone. Much of the
Industrial Complex in the Townsite's western half is being
destroyed as this is being written (a few buildings will probably
be relocated to one side of the site). Highway construction
threatens the landscape, if not the buildings, of the remainder of
the Townsite. A number of opportunities will be lost along with the Industrial
Complex. Of foremost importance to this report are the lost
opportunities for historic preservation.
Description
202 pages