"The Falcon Joslin house, built ca. 1904, is one of the first frame houses constructed in Fairbanks and almost certainly the city's oldest frame house still standing in its original location. Perhaps the major significance of the tall, dignified, "unquestionably ostentatious" house, however, is its intimate association with its original owner, Falcon Joslin. One of the most influential early citizens of Fairbanks, Falcon Joslin was directly associated with the economic growth and survival of Fairbanks as a permanent settlement.
In 1904 this two-story, "square built", midwest-farmhouse style of frame construction contrasted sharply with the single-story log cabins of early Fairbanks. Only two years earlier in July of 1902 9 Felix Pedro discovered gold near the present site of Fairbanks and prospectors and miners came pouring into the Tanana Valley. Falcon Joslin's home marks the beginning of an important stage in the architectural evolution of the city when the temporary tents and log cabins of the miners were joined by larger houses of frame construction, signaling a trend toward permanence. Miraculously the house escaped damage from both the 1905 flood, which inundated Fairbanks from First Avenue to Sixth Avenue, and the great fire of May 22, 1906, which devastated the entire center of town from Lacey Street to Turner Street and from the Chena River to Third Avenue.
The Joslin family occupied the house from 1904 to 1916. During much of this time, however, Joslin's wife and three children lived in Seattle and Falcon remained the sole occupant of the rambling structure. In 1916 Joslin sold the house to C.P. Guis who in turn sold it to M.V. Guis in 1921. The Fairbanks Exploration Company (F.E. Co.) purchased the house from M.V. Guis in 1930 and shortly afterwards built a single-story, one-room addition on the north. The F.E. Co. used the building as housing for company executives and later, during the Second World War, as a temporary dormitory for its employees. Al Seeliger, the last F.E. Co. employee to live in the house, moved out in 1958, and the house remained empty for a year until Hugh Connelly purchased it from the F.E. Co. in 1960. Although Mr. Connelly restored interior parts of the house to their original style particularly the upstairs bathroom and the kitchen, no major structural changes have been made since 1960. The house was not seriously damaged by the 1967 Fairbanks flood although flood water filled the basement and reached to within a few inches of the first story floor.
Although the Falcon Joslin house is an important architectural landmark, it derives ven greater historical significance from its association with the man who built it. There is one pervading influence on the success of any settlement that escapes measurement; that intangible quality of loyalty and identification of the settlers with their own area. These qualities coupled with aggressive leadership may mean the difference between stagnation followed by attrition of population and steady growth, expansion, and diversity of economic and cultural activities. Perhaps more than anyone else, Falcon Joslin and his Tanaha Valley Railroad set the stage for the economic growth and ultimate survival of Fairbanks.
Falcon Joslin -- lawyer, railroad builder, and financier -- was born September 27, 1866, in Bellview, Tennessee. After practicing law first in Seattle (1890-1897) and later at Dawson City in the Yukon Territory (1898-1904), Joslin joined the rush of miners to the Tanana Valley in 1904. Arriving in Fairbanks at a time when tremendous numbers of prospectors and miners were invading the Tanana Valley, Falcon Joslin recognized that mining camps in the recently established Fairbanks Mining District needed cheap and reliable transportation. In addition, Joslin saw the agricultural potential of the Tanana Valley and the possibility of diversifying the economic base of Fairbanks through development of the rich farm land. With both these goals in mind, between 1905 and 1907 9 Joslin used American and English capital to construct 45 miles of track from Chena, the head of steamboat navigation on the Tanana, to the mining camps at Chatanika. A 4.7-mile spur line led to Fairbanks on the Chena River. This narrow-gauge track became the Tanana Valley Railroad (TVRR), and Falcon Joslin served as its president for ten years until 1917." - National Register Nomination form