Anchorage Area 1915

Anchorage Area 1915. . , In 1914, the Alaska Engineering Commission designated the north bank of Ship Creek as the site of main railroad construction camp. The town of Anchorage began as a railroad construction settlement at the mouth of Ship Creek. For many years the railroad would be the only means of motorized transport from the seaport of Seward to Anchorage, then to the coal mines in the Matanuska Valley and eventually to Fairbanks. By 1915, the railroad employed 1,000 men. Pay was 37.5 cents an hour for common labor, 40-60 cents an hour for carpenters., The construction settlement was a tent city housing more than 2,000 people, 25-30 restaurants, 15 grocery stores, 15 barber shops, 1 bath tent, 6 laundries, 2 watch repair shops, 3 tin shops, 2 drug stores, 1 sawmill, 2 movie tents, 1 newspapers, 2 lawyers, 10 cigar stores and many other small businesses... Being on government property, there were no saloons., In 1915, the townsite was moved to higher ground. The government held a land auction, and permanent building was begun on the site of the current downtown area. Anchorage was planned as a typical railroad town: north to south streets were listed alphabetically, east to west streets were numbered., [Photo captions, clockwise from top left, read] , A. Original townsite on the banks of Ship Creek., B. Passenger sternwheeler at the [S]hip Creek dock., C. Railroad construction., D. 1915 new town site land auction., E. Ship Creek port area. Fishing boats are in the foreground. The supply crane, affectionately known as the "Milk Cow" is in the center rear of the photograph.