4
>
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GROWTH,
SCHOOLS, PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND
ENTERPRISES OF GATEWAY CITY
THE TOWN OF SEWARD is located
on Beautiful Resurrection Bay, about
1800 miles steamship route, from Se
attle. It lies at the head of the bay
on a glacial morraine, and is surround
ed on three sides by majestic, snow
capped mountains, forming, as Presi
dent Harding so aptly expressed it,
“A beautiful gem in a perfect set
ting.” The town itself was incorpo
rated in 1912 under the Organic Act,
t
found in cities of ten thousand in the
States.
It has a generous, whole hearted
citizenry of the pioneer type, who are
progressive to the extreme, and a live
Chamber of Commerce.
Seward is onei of the most healthful
towns in the Territory, its mortality
list being extremely low, and no cases
of infantile mortality at all in the
past year, despite the large number
1
LOOKING UP FOURTH AVENUE FROM WHARF
•which provides that any community
* having three hundred or more inhabi
tants may incorporate as a municipal
corporation and further provides for
the election of a common council of
six members to serve for two years,
the mayor being elected by direct vote
of the people.
Prior to the beginning of the Alaska
Central Railway, later purchased by
the Government, there was a small
settlement at Seward from which point
mail was distributed to Cook Inlet
and Turnagain Arm points, and pros
pectors also outfitted here for the Mt.
McKinley district.
Seward has a permanent population
of about twelve hundred, but on ac
count of its geographic location, has
a summer population greatly exceed
ing this number. All traffic to Fair
banks and Interior Points goes thru
Seward, and it is estimated that at
least 25,000 persons visit the town
annually.
* The town is one of the most modern
in Alaska, having a fine water system
cement sidewalks, a good sewer sys
tem, telephone and light system, and
ample current for power purposes. It
has a volunteer fire department with
a paid fire chief, with a large auto
truck for carrying hose, and a number
of chemical engines. It has modern
schools, with teachers equal to any in
j the States, and the average salaries
paid exceed those in the States.
During the fishing season Seward is
visited by a half hundred halibut
boats, who sell their fares to the local
cold storage; and, this company han
dles several million pounds annually,
which are shipped Outside. Seward
also has one of the largest Standard
Oil stations in Alaska, carrying thou
sands of barrels of fuel oil, lubricat
ing oils, gasoline and kerosene.
A modern radio station, maintained
by the Navy, and a military cable and
. telegraph system are maintained here
with a personnel of about 22. It has
numerous hotels, a bank with depos
its averaging over $5,000 per capita,
department stores, jewelry store, gen
eral stores, men’s furnishings, ladies’
furnishings, wholesale and retail meat
markets, several pool halls and card
rooms, five restaurants, tailoring es
tablishments, a fine machine shop ca
pable of handling any class of marine
^ v work, sheet metal works, plumbing
establishments, a fine cinema house,
drug store, laundries, undertaking par
lors, three sawmills, fire insurance and
real estate offices, transfer companies,
coal and wood dealers, fish cannery,
customs office, a large Federal build
ing, planing mill, a first class dairy,
a large circulating library, fine church
buildings, the Methodist, Episcopal and
Catholic denominations being repre
sented, and in fact, every business
of children in the city. A compari
son of climatic conditions will show
that extreme of temperature are un
known here, the climate being about
the same in winter as Knoxville, Ten
nessee, or Atlanta, Georgia, without
the extremes of heat in the summer.
Situated as it is near the great
coastal region of the Aleutian penin
sula, Seward is the banking and dis
j tributing center for Seldovia, Kodiak,
! Kanatak, Unga, Sanak, and Unalaska,
these camps doing thousands of dollars
worth of business with our merchants
annually. Its harbor is one of the fin
ets in the world, free from all obstruc
tions, sufficient in depth to float the
largest ships, and over forty square
miles in area. Seward is the termi
nal of the Government Railroad, and
has been selected as the site for the
Government coal bunkers, -which will
be built at some future date for the
shipment of coal to points in Alaska,
and to the States. It has a wharf
owned and operated by the Govern
ment, at which three large steamers
may load and unload simultaneously,
and with two additional docks on the
water front can take care of any im
mediate demand.
At present three steamship compa
nies operate on regular sailings from
Seward to Seattle and to Western
Alaska, the fare from Seattle to Sew
ard being about $75 including state
room and meals.
One of the Standard Oil Company’s
largest storage stations in Alaska is
located here, and has pipe lines and
pumps for furnishing fuel to all ves
sels calling in at this port. The Gate
way secured cuts from the Company of
its fine plant and grounds, but upon
arrival here they were found too large
for a five-column paper.
Tonnage Handled in Past Year
A curve of the tonnage handled at
the Seward dock shows a gradual in
crease in commercial freight as the
railway nears completion. Records
available show that 159,626 tons of
freight were handled over the govern
ment dock, with a large quantity han
dled over the docks of the Standard
Oil Company and the San Juan Fish
of the westward freight is transferred
ing and Cold Storage Company. Much
directly from one steamer to another,
thus allowing no record to be kept.
The depth of water at mean low tide
at the face of the Government dock
is 42 feet. The rise and fall of the
tide varies from eight to 14 feet.
Of General Information
Almost anything can be grown as
a root crop or vegetables in Seward,
as well as many kinds of berries and
small fruits, poultry, hogs, sheep and
cattle. The government has an experi
mental station at Sitka, Kenai, Copper
Center, Kodiak, Rampart, Fairbanks
and Matanuska, and continued experi
ments show that mixed farming can
be conducted as successfully as in
Northern Iowa, the Dakotas, Maine or
any of the States north of 50 degrees
of latitude. At Kodiak stock rais
ing is engaged in extensively and the
glutton from this island and the islands
near Unalaska is pronounced finer
flavored than that raised in the States
while the wool clip is much superior
in texture and length of fiber.
It has been estimated that 100,000
square miles in Alaska are capable of
the highest agricultural development,
and that as much more is available
for stock raising.
Fur Farming Profitable
Fur farming offers a very attractive
opportunity in this section for a per
son of limited capital. In addition to
fox raising, mink, marten and muskrat
can be profitably raised. Fox farm
ing while yet in its infancy, shows an
investment of hundreds of thousands
of dollars. Many farmers take no
pelts but sell all their stock as breed
ers. Fur farms are maintained with
in the city limits of Seward, silver
blacks and blues being raised, and a
mink farm is now under way at the
northern end of the city.
Labor Conditions
Labor conditions in and around Sew
ard are of the best, as practically
all branches of skilled labor and a
plentiful supply of common labor, may
be found. The wages at present paid
and Alaska brown may be seen in
droves at times, and where the big
game hunter is certain of his bag.
Parties en route to the Valley of
Ten Thousand Smokes also change
ships at Seward, being landed at the
foot of the trail to the valley off the
steamship Starr.
The Radio Station at Seward
At the southerly point of Resur
rection bay the United States has es
tablished a radio station for the pri
mary purpose of service to the Amer
ican fleet and vessels of the govern
ment on independent duty in Alaska,
such as Coast Guard Cutters, Bureau
of Fisheries and other departmental
vessels. The station also renders ser
vice to the commercial vessels plying
between Alaskan ports, and accepts
commercial traffic to or from these
vessels, various cannery and mining
stations along the Alaskan Coast.
The purpose of the station outside
of service to the fleet is a secondary
measure of insuring the public of
Alaska a means of moving their traffic
to Seattle and other points in the
United States, and beyond, when the
cable, which terminates at Seward be
comes interrupted or congested. In
case of such an interruption the traf
fic is received at this station, which
transmits it to the naval station at
Cordova, which in turn transmits it
to the naval radio station at Puget
Sound, Washington, thus giving the
public the same service as rendered
L. D. Anderson, Radioman lcL
L. S. Kobel, Radioman lcl.
F. F. Brown, Radioman lcl.
Since the first commissioning of the
station in 1917, vast changes have oc
curred to keep in pace with the great
advance in radio.
The large Fairbanks Morse engines
which were the prime movers of pow
er at the time of commissioning the
plant are now considered obsolete and
in their place is a small Diesel engine
furnishing power for the various types
of apparatus.
The station has a 500 watt tube
transmitter of the very latest design,
which was recently installed, for emer
gency purposes the spark transmitter
is still effective. It was a few years
ago the greatest radio achievement,
but is now considered nearly obsolete.
The receiving equipment is of the
latest type adopted by the naval ser
vice.
This station generates its own pow
er and operates on schedules with St.
Paul, Dutch Harbor, Cordova, Sitka,
Latouche, Alaska, and other govern
mental and commercial stations along
the coast to Seattle.
The relations of the radio personnel
and the civilian population of Seward
have always been cordial. The fine
spirit of co-operation shown by the
splendid men in charge of the station
have been appreciated by Sewardites,
who are proud of the station and of
the boys in charge.
1
MBMMMBWi MM Ml am m hb s msm a as m m u » m.u u -mm-am—- - aam-^
FEDERAL BUILDING—HOUSING ALL FEDERAL OFFICES
. in this section average from $120 to
t $150 per month, with carpenters, me
L chanics, plasterers, masons and plumb
. ers charging from $12 to $14 per day
. of eight hours.
The cost of living is higher in some
5 instances than in the States, and low
5 er in others. At Seward prices are
[ probably as cheap on clothing, shoes,
. and general outfits as in the States,
. with meats and vegetables consider
E ably higher. Rents are cheaper and
r fuel is also very low.
3 Opportunities for the Tourist
An increasing number of tourists
make Alaska ’each year, and naturally
t all of these sight-seers are compelled
• to go or come through Seward. With
3 comfortable hotels and fine restau
3 rants the tourist can find much in this
f vicinity to interest him. There is a
• beautiful scenic highway, mountain
• climbing, boating, swimming, fishing,
1 and camping. The lakes afford the
‘ angler an opportunity to test his
1 tackle rainbows 24 inches in length
1 being taken, and brook trout abound
» in the many streams adjacent to the
• city. Moose, sheep, bears, goats,
3 and smaller game are plentiful and
c afford! rare sport for the hunter. With
3 in a few hours rides by boat from
Seward moose may be found in large
herds, and sheep are to be seen from
j the town porches. The hills abound
with ptarmigan and ducks and geese
1 are found in the bays and lakes dur
[ ing the fall.
Seward is the point of departure
r for the big game country to the west
\ ward, where the lordly Kadiak bear
by the cable and always insuring them
d£ a means of communication with the
autside world.
The Seward station has a comple
ment of six men, all of whom are en
listed in the naval service, and who
Early History of Seward
In the fall of 1901, Charles M. An
derson, a civil engineer of Seattle,
Washington, who had previously pass
ed a season or two at Rampart on the
Yukon River, Alaska, in company
VIEW OF SEWARD PRIMARY SCHOOL
stay ashore for a period of two years
and then return to the fleet from
whence they came.
Personnel of Station.
The personnel of the station is as
follows:
E. J. Bahrs, Chief Radioman in
charge of the station.
C. E. Mountain, chief radioman.
with John H. McGraw, previously gov
ernor of the State of Washington,
together with Col. E. M. Conrad, an
other well known resident of Seattle
and Puget Sound, who enlisting the
aid and interest of John E. Ballaine,
then a young officer on the staff of
(Continued on Pagn 2)