Talkeetna Roadhouse

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Talkeetna Roadhouse, built of log construction in 1917. As seen in March of 2022. Talkeetna Roadhouse Alaska AK inn bakery and restaurant.jpg
Talkeetna Roadhouse, built of log construction in 1917. As seen in March of 2022.

The Talkeetna Roadhouse is a historically significant Alaskan frontier roadhouse dating from the early 20th century. [1] It is situated in the town of Talkeetna, Alaska in the northern United States.

An interior photo of the historic Talkeetna Roadhouse's fireside parlor piano. Talkeetna Roadhouse interior photograph.jpg
An interior photo of the historic Talkeetna Roadhouse's fireside parlor piano.

Roadhouses served as respites for fur trappers, miners, prospectors, and sojourners making their way through the northern territories of North America in the 19th and 20th centuries. [2] The Talkeetna Roadhouse was one such historically significant roadhouse built in 1917, in Talkeetna, Alaska, and brought into use as a roadhouse later for a variety of travelers as commercial industry continued to expand north through the Territory of Alaska.

Though the Talkeetna Roadhouse is situated in an area known for a significant history of mining, fur trapping, and logging, Talkeetna itself also served as a base of operations for the Alaska Railroad in the 1920s while the railroad was expanded up north to Fairbanks, Alaska. In 1923, U. S. President Warren G. Harding stopped momentarily in Talkeetna while journeying to commemorate the completion of this railroad expansion. The town of Talkeetna now serves as a popular jumping-off point and base camp for forays into nearby Denali National Park. Backpackers, mountain climbers, naturalists, and skiers frequently stay at the Talkeetna Roadhouse before embarking on journeys into the adjacent Denali range. [3]

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The Talkeetna Historic District encompasses several blocks of the historic village center of Talkeetna, Alaska. It includes buildings on Main Street, roughly between C and D Streets, along with a few buildings on C and D Streets between Front and East First Streets. The village was established in 1916 as a regional construction headquarters of the Alaska Railroad, and became a home to area miners after the railroad's completion. The district includes three buildings that date to the time of the railroad construction, and another ten that were built before 1940. Most of the buildings in the district are one or two stories in height, and are either of wood frame or log construction. Notable among them are the Fairview Inn, the town's first schoolhouse, now the Talkeetna Museum, and the Talkeetna Roadhouse, which was built as a residential log house in 1917 and expanded in the 1940s to serve as a roadhouse.

References

  1. "Talkeetna Roadhouse history" . Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  2. "Talkeetna Roadhouse" . Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  3. "Talkeetna Roadhouse Hotel". Archived from the original on 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2009-08-24.

62°19′23″N150°06′54.7″W / 62.32306°N 150.115194°W / 62.32306; -150.115194