The Wireless Station

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The Wireless Station
Alaska Heritage Resources Survey
The Wireless Station (Anchorage, Alaska).JPG
Building A, the original building, in 2021
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Location124, 132 and 140 East Manor Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska
Coordinates 61°13′45″N149°52′53″W / 61.22917°N 149.88139°W / 61.22917; -149.88139
Area2.1 acres (0.85 ha)
Built1917
NRHP reference No. 15000843 [1]
AHRS No.ANC-00306
Added to NRHPDecember 1, 2015

The Wireless Station is a historic US government telecommunications facility at East Manor and Boyd Streets in Anchorage, Alaska. The property includes three buildings (built in 1917, 1934, and 1949) that were used to maintain radio communications in the Anchorage area, with ships at sea, and as a communications link to Seattle, Washington as part of military WAMCATS telecommunications system. In addition, the station was used for communications during the construction of the Alaska Railroad, and, during the 1925 serum run to Nome, it was used to inform the residents of Nome that the diphtheria antitoxin was on its way. [2]

Contents

Design

The three buildings are single-story frame structures with clapboard siding. The original 1917 building has a cupola, that when illuminated, originally served as a beacon for ships seeking to reach the Anchorage port. The station saw active service until the early 1950s and has stood vacant since the 1990s. [3]

The station complex was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places in 2015. [1]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. McKinstry, Erin (August 30, 2018). "Future uncertain for crumbling historic buildings in Anchorage". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  3. Sarah Wilson; Summer Rickman (February 10, 2015). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: The Wireless Station" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 22, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2016. With seven photos from 2014.