Fairbanks in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska — Northwest (North America)
Citizen's Mill (1909-1915)
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 18, 2024
1. Citizen's Mill (1909-1915) Marker
From 1905 to 1909, Fairbanks enjoyed several fruitful years of mining as a placer gold camp. However, promising new gold strikes in other parts of Alaska were beginning to pull people and businesses out of Fairbanks. Several key businessmen sensed an urgency to boost the lode gold prospects. A small test mill built in downtown Fairbanks would provide prospectors a place to crush samples of gold-bearing quartz ore and determine the value of their prospects. The businessmen pulled together funds and ordered a 3-stamp mill from the local foundry of Brumbaugh, Hamilton & Kellogg.
On the chilly Thursday morning of February 25, 1909, a band struck up a marching tune and led a parade of spectators to the small mill building next to the foundry. Speeches by the town's elected leaders declared the coming of a new era to Fairbanks. With the mill christened, the stamps began their pounding to the cheers of several hundred onlookers. The Fairbanks businessmen offered to run the mill free of charge, and the local Tanana Valley Railroad also promised free ore shipments from the prospectors north of town. And so the small ore grinder was dubbed the "Citizen's Mill."
In 1910[?], a Pinder circular concentrator table shipped from San Francisco was added to the mill system, thereby increasing its efficiency. The Citizen's Mill
this page online
Erected by Fairbanks North Star Borough Parks and Recreation.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Exploration • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1905.
Location. 64° 50.32′ N, 147° 46.544′ W. Marker is in Fairbanks, Alaska, in Fairbanks North Star Borough. It can be reached from Airport Way. Marker is in the Alaska Salmon Bake area of Pioneer Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2300 Airport Way, Fairbanks AK 99701, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Alaska Railroad Corridor, in the Athabascan Region, and in Interior Alaska. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, the Pacific Rim, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Russian Empire.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Stamp Milling (here, next to this marker); Model Dredge (here, next to this marker); Alaska's First Pipeline (here, next to this marker); Steam Operated Shovel (a few steps from this marker); Placer Drill (a few steps from this marker); Pioneering Prospectors (a few steps from this marker); The Arduous Work of Prospecting in Alaska (a few steps from this marker); Some of the First Men to Prospect the Fairbanks District Mining Claims (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fairbanks.
Also see . . .
1. Social construction of technology in the workplace: Lode mining in the Fairbanks Mining District
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 18, 2024
2. Citizen's Mill (1909-1915) Marker
Equipment in foreground is the Citizen's Mill "battery"
2. "Another Bonanza Mine" (The Alaska Citizen, May 28, 1910).
Credits. This page was last revised on May 22, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 24, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 180 times since then and 14 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 24, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
