Wickersham House - Fairbanks, Alaska
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 64° 50.305 W 147° 46.284
6W E 463404 N 7190669
Historic house relocated to Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Waymark Code: WMAR9W
Location: Alaska, United States
Date Posted: 02/16/2011
Views: 6
"With white picket fence, flower boxes and planted blue-grass lawn, the home of
Judge and Mrs. James Wickersham was a frontier phenomena when it was completed
in June, 1904. Of planed siding and wood frame, rather than the proverbial log
construction; with four rooms and a graceful porch, fence and lawn it was unique
among rough miner's cabins, almost all single-roomed and with no amenities.
The neighborhood, sloping gently to the south bank of the Chena River, was well wooded
with white birch and some black spruce. Although within easy walking
distance it was pastoral compared to the hurly-burly business district. At the
corner of Noble, the house faced First Street and had the first wooden residential
sidewalk. From the planted lawn, principally to the back of the house, one
gained an unexcelled view of the Chena River and the rolling hills of the
goldfields to the North...
Designated by Governor Walter J. Hickel as Alaska State Historical Monument No.
1, on May 9, 1966, this house is of transcendent importance in Fairbanks history,
Because of the stature of the man whose name it bears as builder and resident,
it is of statewide significance, as well. This was the first frame residence,
with the first picket fence and planted blue-grass lawn in Fairbanks. The
builder, Jameg Wickersham 1 retrains a towering figure in Alaskan public life and
literature "The Territory's most dominant political figure for the first three
decades of the Twentieth Century." He provided the name for and is considered
one of the founding fathers of Fairbanks." - National Register Nomination form