Hunt Phinney (2 results)
More imagesPublished by Alaska Engineering Commission, AEC, Phinney S. Hunt, ca. 1916-1917]., [Anchorage & Seward, A.T.: 1916
- Hardcover
Seller: Zephyr Used & Rare Books, Vancouver, WA, U.S.A.Zephyr Used & Rare Books
Contact seller5-star seller4to. 86 silver print photographs, sized 6.25 x 8.25 in., nearly all w/ photographer's imprint w/in negative at lower fore-edge, as well as caption, negative number, and AEC, some w/ occasional pencil annotations on verso, all preserved in mylar sleeves (occasional creasing at corners, a couple w/ slight loss at corners in the sm…all blank margin). Recent 3-ring clamshell binder, an excellent set of photos, with all retaining bright strong contrast. This outstanding photo archive provides not only some of the earliest photographs of Anchorage, Alaska Territory, but also this immense railroad project first authorized by the US Congress in 1912. The few existing privately-run railroads operating in Alaska at the time, including the Alaska Northern Railway, and the Tanana Valley Railroad primarily fulfilled the needs of the mining companies carrying resources to sea ports, and very little allowance was made for passenger traffic, and it was impossible to travel by rail from Ship's Creek at the Cook Inlet north to Fairbanks. Through an April, 1915 executive order, President Wilson directed that the newly created Alaska Engineering Commission construct a railroad along the surveyed "Western Route" from Seward, or Portage Bay, along the Turnagain & Knik Arms of Cook Inlet, North through the Suitna Valley, and then follow the Nenana River until it joined the Tanana, with the intent it would connect eventually to Fairbanks. Employing discarded surplus railroad equipment from the Panama Canal Railroad project, and under the direction of engineer Mears, who had worked on both the Panama Canal and Great Northern Railroads, the tiny tent city of Ship's Creek swelled to 5500 people within two years and was officially labeled by the Post Office as "Anchorage." Photos included here reveal the barren original landscape of Ship's Creek with one of the photos showing the steam launches "Alaska" & "Seagull" who carried cargo and passengers from ships offshore. In addition, there are views of the construction of the immense AEC Railway machine shop by Sept., 1916, as well as the newly completed first Railroad Depot in Anchorage, with the progression of buildings erected beyond. These early views of the fast developing project portray the Commissary, Hospital, Bunkhouses, finished machine shop, interiors of the powder house for blasting, along with a view of the AEC's photo studio, and the completed electrical power house. Early street views of the nascent city are quite scarce, and one of particular interest shows Fourth Ave. looking East, with newly built stores and homes, built along both sides of the roadway stretching into the distance. Brutal working conditions continually interfered with the pace of the project, with one of the images showing the AEC's "Electric Thawing Machine," on a sled, whie others depict piles of snow, work camps in snow, and even sternwheeler and docks trapped in an ice flow in March, 1917. A couple of the photographs feature the sternwheeler SS Omineca underway, which had been originally constructed in 1909 for the Grand Trunk Railway, running the Skeena River from 1909-1912, and powered by the original SS Caledonia's engines. By the end of 1916, 60 miles of track had been laid, 100 miles were graded, and right-of-way cleared for 230 miles, with photos in this archive showing AEC Construction camps at various mile markers, blasting activity, and track laying. At the same time they rehabilitated the bankrupt Alaska Northern Railroad tracks, and by Oct. 24, 1917 the first AEC Railway train reached the Chickaloon coal mines 74 miles North of Anchorage. The railroad would actually not be finished until 1923 when the Tanana River Bridge was completed, and last 57 miles of track to Fairbank converted to standard gauge. Photos also show the Anchorage Baseball Field, which featured games for the Cook Inlet Baseball League, composed at the time of Matanuska, Anchorage, and Turnagain Arm teams. There's also a very fine series of.
More imagesPublished by Photographed By P. S. Hunt, 1907., N. P. Alaska 1907
Seller: BUCKINGHAM BOOKS, ABAA, ILAB, IOBA, GREENCASTLE, PA, U.S.A.BUCKINGHAM BOOKS, ABAA, ILAB, IOBA
Contact seller5-star seller[ALASKA]. All six 8" x 6" black & white photographs depict horse-drawn teams hauling tons of freight over Tasnuna Divide en-route to Gray's Camp on the Kotsina River in 1907. All six photographs show the teams in deep snow including two incredible views of clearing the trail for the teams to travel through the snow and a photogr…aph of 305 tons of freight in the company's cache at the top of the Divide. Phinney S. Hunt (1866-1917) was born and raised in Michigan, moved to California where he was an optician, then went north to Valdez, Alaska in 1898 as a prospector. He became a photographer and, besides having a photography studio, took pictorial views of Valdez and the surrounding region. He moved to Anchorage around 1915 after becoming the official photographer for the Alaskan Engineering Commission at the beginning of the Alaska railroad construction venture. He died suddenly while photographing in Seward, Alaska in 1917. Fortunately, Hunt inserted dated titles and negative numbers into the negatives of many of his photographs. Today his photographs are in many collections including the Alaska State Library, the Valdez Museum, the Library of Congress, and the University of Washington. However, only a couple of his photographs of the series included here are in those collections, making these quite an unusual group. The six photographs are G 1099: Valdez Transportation Company's teams leaving Valdez for Gray's Camp on Kotsina River, Alaska, with from three to four tons to the load, Jan. 7, 1907. The first four horse double bob sleighs to make the entire distance; G 1104: Valdez Transportation Company's teams hauling freight over Tasnuna Divide enroute to Gray's Camp on the Kotsina River, Jan. 15, 1907; G 1106: Valdez Transportation Company's teams on Tasnuna Divide enroute to Gray's Camp on Kotsina River, Jan. 15, 1907; G 1108: Valdez Transportation Company's teams at their cache on top of Tasnuna Divide enroute to Gray's Camp on Kotsina River with three hundred and five tons of freight, Jan. 15, 1907; G 1112: Valdez Transportation Company's teams breaking trail on top of Tasnuna Divide, Jan. 15, 1907; and G 1114: Valdez Transportation Company's teams breaking trail on Tasnuna Divide. Very good.
