Perhaps because the snow's so white
Perhaps because the nights are so long
But the buildings in these Alaska ports
Sing with a COLORful song.
An all-in pot of paint chips
They certainly dazzle the eye
Genuine and modern counterfits
All conspire for a picturesque spy.
Pretty in pink? Crayola box colors are typical of these northern towns, and the old Seattle Hotel (now home of Polar Express-O) is no exception. Belly up to the bar and ... have an Americano, shot of caramel, no foam...
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The Seattle Hotel as a Contributing Resource:
NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION
NFS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 (
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CONTRIBUTING RESOURCES: I. BUILDINGS: A total of 167 buildings are listed. The numbers on the descriptive list are illustrated on Map B (2 sheets), entitled "Skagway and White Pass Historic District."
341. Seattle Hotel, 1897. Two-story commercial building with attic, gable roof with Dutch style false front. North facade is of decorative brick asphalt and driftwood; other facades sided with vertical paneling, plywood and board and batten.
National Park Service: KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH SKAGWAY, DISTRICT OF ALASKA —1884-1912: Building the Gateway to the Klondike Historical and Preservation Data (
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Dozens of buildings from when Skagway was the "Metropolis" of Alaska are still standing. Among these are McCabe College (now city hall), Moore Office Building, St. James Hotel, Mascot Saloon, Seattle Hotel,
Golden North Hotel, and the Arctic Brotherhood Hall.
. . .
Except for the few log structures, buildings erected during this period tended to be tall and narrow in proportion. Board and batten building fronts were extended occasionally to create false fronts. These were lavishly painted or covered with canvas signs. Tents were all sizes and shapes. Ornamental details were nonexistent. Structures such as the Moore cabin, the Seattle Hotel, and the Goldberg Cigar Store were characteristic of this period. Few of the buildings of this phase have survived. What has been retained is a land use pattern which reflects a definite business orientation toward the east side of the valley as well as a grid of streets, lots, and blocks which reflect the general layout of Skagway during this early period.
. . .
SEATTLE HOTEL, FRYE-BRUHN MEAT MARKET 1897
1 F (historic district map)
The Seattle Hotel, a two-and-a-half-story false-fronted wood frame structure standing on Fifth Avenue, was built in the winter of 1897 for stampeders waiting to cross White Pass. In December 1897 the agent of the Seattle-based Frye-Bruhn Meat Company bought the hotel and refitted its first floor for the company's Skagway market. By 1900 the meat market had taken over the building, using it through the 1930s. The exterior has been stripped of its ornamentation, but the building's overall configuration has been retained.
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Frye Museum (
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Frye-Bruhn and Alaska JUNE 12, 2010 - SEPTEMBER 6, 2010
In conjunction with the exhibitions Northern Latitudes and On Arctic Ice, the Frye presents historical photographs documenting the entrepreneurial activities of the Museum’s founder, Charles Frye, in Seattle and Alaska. Primarily capturing the rough-and-tumble nature of Alaskan towns at the turn of the century, these photographs demonstrate the pioneering spirit of Frye and other men and women who sought adventure in the North.
Motivated by the opportunities afforded by the Klondike gold rush in Canada’s Yukon Territory, Charles Frye and his business partner, Charles Bruhn, who had founded the Frye-Bruhn Meat Packing Company in Seattle in 1891, expanded their operations into Alaska. They established their first retail outlet in 1897 in Skagway, Alaska—a major supply point to the Klondike region. Stores followed in Juneau, Valdez, Seward, Haines, Ketchikan, and Nome.
Operating into the 1920s and early 1930s, Frye-Bruhn stores sold groceries and canned and fresh meat to commercial clients, residents, and prospectors. The company provided fresh meat products through the cattle ranches it established on several Alaskan islands. Although it was forced to close its Kodiak Island ranch after the 1912 eruption of Novarupta Volcano, Frye-Bruhn continued to run cattle on Chirikof Island until the late 1930s.
Frye-Bruhn’s cold storage building in Skagway, once used to refrigerate the company’s meat products, has been recognized as historically significant by the National Park Service, which took ownership of the building in 2004. A contributing element of the Skagway and White Pass National Historic Landmark, the building is in the process of being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places by the Park Service.
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About Polar Express-O (
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For the glutton for detail, a noodge more background on the Skagway Historic District:
(
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NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION
NFS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018
The Skagway & White Pass National Historic Landmark District, located approximately 100 miles north of Juneau, extends from Skagway Bay to the Alaska and British Columbia, Canada, boundary at the White Pass summit. Situated in a deep valley, nestled between snow-capped peaks and surrounded by glacial fields, the district is comprised of the original (1897) Skagway townsite and much of the Skagway River Valley.
The major historic resources in the Skagway River Valley include the Trail of 1897 (Dead Horse Trail), the Brackett Wagon Road, the Ford, White Pass City, and the White Pass and Yukon Railway (WP&YR).
The Historic District within the Skagway townsite (see Map B, 2 sheets) includes all of the original (1897) townsite, which is 23 blocks long and from three to five blocks wide. Within the District lie many outstanding examples of turn-of-the-century workingman's residential architecture, as well as several well-preserved remnants of frontier commercial buildings. Of the 374 buildings (not including outbuildings) within the Historic Landmark, all but eight are within the Skagway townsite; of those in the Skagway townsite, 163 contribute to the town's historical character.
Most of the contributing residential buildings are brightly painted, single-story wood frame structures with gable roofs and shiplap siding. Most of the contributing business and civic buildings are also of wood frame construction, with gable roofs and shiplap siding; unlike residential buildings, however, many front directly on the pedestrian boardwalks. These buildings commonly have two stories, false fronts, commercial display windows, recessed double doors, and commercial signage. Although few of the buildings are individually distinguished, as a whole they retain the place and scale of the historic period. The physical appearance of many buildings has been altered over time by additions or historical restoration. In addition, a few of the buildings are deteriorated. Although the deteriorated buildings have lost their structural integrity, they contribute to the character of the district by reflecting the evolution of the historic scene.
The dynamic nature of Skagway's historic buildings is central to the town's character. During the gold rush period, the business district had three different orientations: along the White Pass Trail, along several eastwest avenues (due to the imposition of the street grid system), and finally along Broadway (because of the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad's influence). Key buildings were moved during each transitional phase. Since the gold rush period, many additional moves have taken place.
To some extent, this spatial dynamism reflects the need to conserve building materials on a remote frontier; in this respect, Skagway's experience is similar to that of many other frontier towns in the American west. Additional factors accounting for building relocations have been the high transportation costs and a shortage of easily procurable materials associated with a remote frontier location, along with the railroad's role in assisting building relocations.
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National Park Service: KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH SKAGWAY, DISTRICT OF ALASKA —1884-1912: Building the Gateway to the Klondike Historical and Preservation Data (
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PREFACE
Skagway, the gateway to the Klondike, has never lost its gold rush luster. The boardwalks bordering dirt streets, the wooden false-fronted buildings, and the narrow-gauge mountain railroad all represent a period of history peculiar to Alaska, the last frontier. In the old federal District of Alaska, Skagway had led the way as the first incorporated town and major city. Unfortunately, the new town's growth and exuberant spirit has since met times of political and economic hardship.
APPENDIX
BUILDINGS WITHIN THE SKAGWAY HISTORIC DISTRICT
The entire town of Skagway is included in the Skagway and White Pass National Historic Landmark. This landmark designation is commemorative in nature, and it provides a review period for all federal activities and allows for federal historic preservation incentives for owners of all historic properties in Skagway.
In the core of the town, however, is the Skagway Historic District. This area includes all of the buildings protected by the City of Skagway's historic district ordinance as well as the public law creating Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Property ownership is mixed, public and private.