Valentine Building/ Juneau Drug Co.

Additional Information

This irregular-shaped two-story balloon framed building measures105'x50'. In 1913 it was extended an additional 19' on Seward Street and 56 1/2 ' on Front Street. The Seward Street facade has five bays; the Front Street facade has four. The building has a partial concrete basement. Originally, the first floor windows were storefront with transom and clerestory above. The transoms were covered during the 1950s. A sidewalk canopy, added in the 1930s, is between the storefront and the clerestory windows, marking the original transom sill line. Original exterior finishes include vertical shiplap siding with multiple varieties of applied wooden ornamentation on the major facades and horizontal shiplap siding on the courtyard facade. Detailing on the exterior is entirely wooden and of the Victorian Italianate style. This includes fluted pilasters, elaborate carved corbels, swags, dentils, and a pronounced cornice. The commercial storefront is on the first floor and office space is on the second level.

Built by Emery Valentine, early mayor of Juneau who served six terms, and founding father of the Juneau Fire Department. Property originally purchased by Pierre Errusard, discoverer of the Treadwell Mines. Since it opened in 1905 the building has housed a variety of business included the Arctic Barbershop and Baths (1914), U.S. Naval Radio Station (1920), Salvation Army barracks (1921), Post Office (1929), Juneau Drug Company (1932) and the Alaska Federal Saving and Loan Association (1937). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May, 1985.

commercial

Inventory of Historic Sites and Structures, City and Borough of Juneau, March 1986; http/www.juneau.org/parkrec/museum/forms/digitalbob/index.php; National Register of Historic Places, June 17, 1994.