& EARLY HISTORY of HYDER. By John Holland
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My first view of Hyder, was from
the deck of the S. S. Camosen, coin
ing up tlie Portland Canal, the first
of May 1!*10. Tlie first object that
drew my attention was ttie partly
constructed dock, built from the main
piling section of tlie town out to
deep water. The main dock and part
of the approach were completed, but
for some reason the rest of the ap
proach was never finished and the
dock was never used. A few years
later the dock structure was taken
out by the ica.
A townsite had been surveyed on
the tide flat, and a number of small
shacks and some fair sized buildings
were erected on the lots. The Linde
horg brothers had filed on a home
stead which is now the Lindeborg
Townsite. Farming was a side issue
with the Lindeborgs, and the writer
saw oats grow six feet high where
the Hyder Drug Company, and the
Bank of Hyder building are now lo
cated.
The only building on the Lindeborg
homestead w<re four small log cab
ins, owned respectively by Llndeborg,
Stevens and Proudfoot, Murphy and
Irwin, and Jack Jarvis.
The business section of the town
was located on piling. John Bugge,
was the proprietor of a store located
at what is now the Traversy Cigar
BOUNDARY
Curios
Novelties
Cigars
HERBERT W. THOMAS
Proprietor
..GIFT SHOP..
Tobaccos
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STATIONERY
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Priced at the
IDEAL CAFE
Most Up to Date Dining
Room and Counter
Service in District
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SERVICE
MAX BEHRMAN,
Proprietor
MAIN STREET —HYDER
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BUNGALOW HOTEL |
GEORGE BROWN. PROPRIETOR
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MODERN ROOMS REASONABLE RATES j
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I Northern Pool Hall i
! -a i
SILVER GRILL j
Hyder’s Pioneer Pool Hall
And Restaurant
W. C. BLANTON ■■ - ... Proprietor j
Store and barber shop. Mr. Kubely, i
had a store in the Portland Cafe t
building. Mr. Kubely was an expert
storekeeper; we could always buy
what we needed at reasonable prices.
Mr. Kubely. is now in business in
Oregon, and Mr. liugge is fanning in
Anchorage. Alaska.
In so far as the "old timers” were
concerned, the boundary line did not
exist.
The Salmon River district was very
little known to the mining world at
that time. Only a very poor foot-trail
existed as far as Nine-mile up tht
Salmon valley. Front this point you
had to make your own way- the best
you could to the upper Salmon Rivet
section. The usual road was over tht
Salmon Glacier to the Big Missour.
property.
Mr. Lindeborg kept a few pact,
horses and did some packing for pros
pectors. A trail was brushed out a
tar as Seven-mile, and during low
water in Salmon River, and by cross
ing back and forth, the pack horse !
got as far as Fleven-niile. The writ-'
er packed supplies on his back to I
prospect what is now the Premier
Mine.
Active prospecting was going on
tip Fish Creek, where the principal
properties now held by the Fish:
Creek Mining Company had been lo-1
i r=rr
:ated by the Lindeborg's, Stevens,
ind Proud foot.
The early history of Ilyder, would
lot be complete without mention of
tome of the old timers who helped
o lay the foundation of the PdMland
"anal district: Dan and Andy Linde
>org, Hiram Stevens. Mr. Proudfoqt.
rack Jarvis, “Red" Irwin, Wm. Mar
shy, John Bugge, Mr. Kubely, Dick
| Harris, and many others."
Hyder first became known to the
| world under the name of Portland
'city. The primitive settlement in
I eluded only a small part of what is
now the Hyder townsite, being con
fined entirely to the tide-lands front
! ing the Lindeborg homestead, men
tioned in the preceding article by
J
AN EARLY DAY VIEW OF HYDER
Mr. Hovland, who was himself one
of the earliest settlers in the Hyder
district.
The new town was erected entire
ly on pilings, with narrow walks,
also on piles, forming the only thor
oughfares. By the fall of 1909, a con
siderable number of people apparent
ly had located in the new settlement,
as the mining records of this period
disclose a steadily Increasing number
of mineral locations in the Alaska
section of Salmon River valley.
The first recorded mining location
in this part of the Alaska territory
was made June 29, 1929, by Jake
Jarvis and Edward Fish at a point
about six miles north of Hyder. The
Portland City townsite was surveyed
and platted early in 1910. Prospect
ing formed the principal occupation
of the settlers in the new camp.
In the meantime the neighboring
Canadian town of Stewart was enter
ing a period of increasing growth j
and prosperity, with the opening of
several mines and the development of I
a railroad construction project. This
adjacent activity hindered rather than
assisted the growth of the newer
town, although the old records in
dicate a slow but steady increase in
population during the ensuing eight
or nine years.
It was not until the discovery of
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Hyder, Alaska &
Permanent Population 357 Seasonal Population 500
Total Property Value $350,000.00
Annual Commerce, Foreign and Bonded: 1930 Figures.
Imports $878,799.22 Exports $2,931,954.00
Taxes None
Situated at the head of Portland Canal on the International Boundary Line between Alaska and British Col
umbia in Latitude 553 54' N., Longitude 130 W.
Hyder is a town of homes, its climate is healthful and combined with its scenic attractiveness is a health resort
as well as a summer and winter playground.
Annual death rata from natural causes, one in two thousand of population.
Hyder possesses one of the most modern and best equipped public schools to be found in the North; one
Bank; Public Library; Weekly Newspaper; Two Churches; Recorder of Public Documents; Civil, Criminal and
Probate Courts; U. S. Customs and Immigration offices; Commercial Radio, Electric Lights and Telephones.
Hyder is the distributing center for one of the most highly mineralized areas in North America, and possesses
Magnificant Hydro-Electric Possibilities for Mining and Pulp Production.
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By Highway, Hyder is 500 miles nearer the United States than any other Alaska town; Hyder is where the
Colden Twilight Trail meets the sea.
Hyder offers many business opportunities.
Hyder is in the midst of a scenic wonderland.
Hyder is destined to be the seaport of a transcontinental railway system.
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WILLS NAVIGATION COMPANY
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OPERATING
M. S. ZAPORA
niUKC T S1CRVK ’li
Seattle to Hyder
Freight and Passengers
HEAD OFFICE: PIER 7
SEATTLE
Hyder Weekly Herald
KMTAOI.INIIKII IDStl
•IOH IMtlNTI.NO - - lM'lil.IHI1I.NO
Specializing in Mining News of the Portland Canal District
il
H. A. IVES photographer
SCENIV VIEWS AND PANORAMAS OF
PORTLAND CANAL DISTRICT
1$
III NUGGET SHOP
E. M. REYNOLDS, Proprietor
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HYPER T0WNS1TE
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IMPROVEMENT Co.
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Investments
A. J. MAYER
P O BOX 123
...HYDER MACHINE SHOP...
HYDRR C; A U A Cl K
Plumbing Steamfitting Black-smithing General Renairs
Authorized Ford Agent
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AGENTS FOR FAIRBANKS, MORSE
ENGINES & MACHINERY
HYDER
ALASKA
the remarkable riches of the great
Premier mine that the new camp
commeneced to attain the growtli
which has made it one of the out
standing mining camps of the North.
Consonant with the development of
this famous mining property, Hyder,
as the camp now had become known,
commenced a period of marked ex
pansion and growth. The homestead
of the Lindeborg brothers, compris
ing 72 acres, was converted into a
well arranged townsite, with wide
thoroughfares, upon which substantial
dwellings and business blocks ap
peared. In February, 1920, the ini
portunce of the Ilyder district as a
potential mineral field led to the
creation of the Hyder recording pre
cinct. embracing an area of some 300 *
square miles, and the establishment
of government offices. With the con
tinued growth of the town, the gov
ernment later allotted to the town
trom the public domain an additional
75*4 acres of land, for building and
residential purposes and also granted
an additional area for use as a public
park on the outskirts of the town.
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BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL
DIRECTORY
* t- * * * £ * * *
Ernest Blue
Attorney at Law Notary Public
C. H. Sundmacher
Attorney at Law—Notary Public
Loretta C. Hill - Notary Public
Chas. F. Sandford - Notary Public
J. R. KENNEDY, D. D. S.
C. D. CARTER - Dentist
Frank Reichenback - Assayer
N. Belyin -Cabinet Maker • Builder
* Wm. Ryan, Carpenter-Contractor
Hall & Haddon - Insurance Brokers
4 Walter C. Blanton, Broker *
UNITED STATES OFFICIALS
Dept, of Justice
Chas. F. Sandford, U.S. Commissioner
Warren S. Harding, Dep. U.S. Marshal
U. S. Customs
J. L. Abrams, Dep. Collector in Charge
Postoffice Department
Oren F. Hill, Postmaster
Department of Agriculture
Bureau of Public Roads
T. H. Evans Superintendent
Department of Labor
Immigration Service
D. J. Mulcare, Inspector in Charge
Hyder Theatre
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