Matanuska Colony Project

Matanuska Colony Project. Palmer. , DAVID R. WILLIAMS , ARCHITECT , David Reichart Williams, appointed as chief architect for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, planned 84 of the 100 resettlement communities., After researching Alaska's climate and agricultural potential, Williams met with President Roosevelt in February 1935, to propose the Matanuska project in Alaska. Roosevelt was keen to have an Alaskan farming community capable of supplying future military bases., Williams said he designed "a rather compact, self-sufficient agricultural industrial community." At the end of his long career, he reminisced that the Matanuska Colony Project proved to be his greatest accomplishment., David Williams drew designs for the colony project based upon local pioneer buildings. Advocating use of log construction, he prepared five house designs for colonists to choose from. The diameter of most local trees were too small causing a shortage of suitable logs. In mid-summer 1935, David Williams came to Alaska to troubleshoot construction problems. He changed house designs from log to accommodate frame construction with windows and doors the same throughout the community., Farm outbuildings included a gambrel roofed 32' x 32' barn for hay and stock, a long low barn for stallions, a chicken coop with shed roof, a well-house and out house., Considered a forerunner in city planning, David Williams designed the public buildings such as the school, teacher's dormitory, administrative building and community center around a quadrangle (quad) separating residential buildings from commercial facilities.