Matanuska Colony History

On Wednesday, May 20, I gave an hour-long talk and slideshow on the history of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project for the Palmer Historical Society. It’s always interesting to given presentations of that history in Palmer, for many of those in the audience are friends and descendants of the original Colonist families, and they often know a lot more about the history than I do. But I talk about what I’ve learned in my research and we have a good time sharing and enjoying the old photos. And there are many wonderful photos! Here is a quick sampling of those I shared during my talk, most of them are by Willis T. Geisman, the official A.R.R.C. photographer for the project:

I explained how my interest in the Colony began with my research on the Colony barns. This is the Rebarchek barn, gone now. [Library of Congress photo]

The old Rebarchek farm is now part of the Alaska State Fairgrounds. [Northern Light Media photo]

The iconic Palmer water tower behind Palmer’s second post office, 1935. [Willis T. Geisman, 1935]

The town of Matanuska, seen from the tracks of the Alaska Railroad, August, 1916

Constructing the mess tent for the workers at Palmer [Willis T. Geisman, 1935]

Newly arriving colonist families seek their tent homes [Willis T. Geisman, 1935]

Driving pins into log walls [Willis T. Geisman, 1935]

Near the warehouse in Palmer [Willis T. Geisman, 1935]

A group of colonist children [Willis T. Geisman, 1935]

Mrs. Anna Emma Havemeister and her family [Willis T. Geisman, 1935]