Digital Bob Archive

Juneau's historic preservation program may have slipped up last fall when it allowed a fine example of the town's early architecture to be carried off down the channel on a barge, bound for parts unknown.

The earliest buildings, back in mining camp days, were log cabins, and in time many of these were replaced by frame cabins, often referred to as miners' cabins. At least a couple of hundred of them dotted the landscape within living memory. Some were shacky, many were well built; all were small, with one or two rooms.

The example that was carted off last fall was in a conspicuous spot on the seaward side of Egan Drive, across from the Shefflied House. It seemed to be in a good state of preservation and it may not have been really old. Nevertheless, it was typical of the early-day miners' cabins. Many of them stood along Willoughby Avenue, from West Willoughby up nearly to Main Street. Dozens of others were along both sides of South Franklin, on Starr Hill, along Gastineau Avenue on Swede Hill, and out beyond Gold Creek in Gull City which later became the urban renewal area.

Mainly they were dwellings although some were used for business purposes, as for example the dozens of \"Cigar Stores\" that stood along the southern reaches of what was then Lower Front Street. Some of the cabins were built in rows with common walls and it is my impression that the people who lived in most of the cabins did not own them but were renters.

A few cabins still remain, but most of these have been enlarged and remodeled until they have little resemblance to the original simple structures that served Juneau so well in its younger days.

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Stroller White said (Douglas Island News, 1916): \"Measles have broken out in Juneau. It is hoped that the epidemic won't reach this side of the channel where a family that doesn't have at least six offspring is considered to be practically childless.\"

\"The Wide-awake Kid blew into town this morning on the steamer Jefferson. He always travels with 53 pieces of luggage - a deck of cards and a clean collar.\"

?Those 'good old days' in Dawson weren't always as good as some people remember them. Swiftwater Bill Gates once cornered the local egg market at $1 per egg, but within a year or so he was in luck when he could corner two eggs for breakfast.\"