Ancient Anchorage memories.

by O.B. Thomas
(Houston, Texas)

After the Korean War, my dad got assigned to Fort Richardson and claims he pulled the first house trailer over the Alaskan Highway.

He was discharged from the Army and started a used furniture store, buying furniture from the military, leaving Alaska and selling it back to military arriving.

I joined him and my stepmother in 1956.

We lived in a little white house with green trim at 159 Eagle Street. I was 9 and here is what I remember.

There were some project apartments across the street. There was a Carrs Food center nearby and behind it a very steep hill that we used for sledding.

I remember going down to 4th avenue and watching the Fur Rendezvous when the dog sleds took off. The Coca Cola plant was down the hill from 5th Avenue.

We shopped at Monty's department store and went to the movies at the Denali Theater.

After a while, my dad gave up the furniture business and went into business with a military buddy and started plowing snow from parking lots in Anchorage. This lasted for a winter or two when he hooked up with a partner, and we were off to Kenai.

For the next many years, we were the local distributor for Standard Oil. Hauling fuel from Homer to Kenai and delivering it to the area around Kenai, Ridgeway and Soldotna.

For many years, my dad, and mother told the story that if they had only homesteaded, they would have owned what is now Spenard.

From age 9 to 19 I lived in Alaska and loved every minute of it. Fish, bears, moose, berries, rhubarb, and ice skating. I remember when Alaska became a state, and I remember the 1964 earthquake. But that's another story.

Yours Free

Anchorage and Alaska Facts, History, and Pioneers

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