Contributed by Richard Estelle
“A picture doesn’t lie,” the saying goes, but sometimes information interpreting a photo doesn’t get the story quite right.
This month’s photo was filed by a newspaper reporter from the States covering events associated with 1935 Matanuska Colony Project in Palmer. Many people “Outside”, particularly in parts of Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin where the colonists departed, were very interested in conditions and activities of the Colony. They relied heavily on journalists’ reports sent back to local newspapers for stories.
Of the many reporters that came to cover the story, some didn’t bother to ensure the information they were reporting was accurate, thus providing a distorted view to their readers. Newspaper accounts sometimes presented a much different picture than that of letters from colonists to family and friends back home, causing considerable confusion about conditions in the Colony.
Information sent along with this photo by the reporter is attached at left, and reads: “PALMER, ALASKA, MAY 24 – MATANUSKA’S FIRST LOG CABIN – Typical of the farm homes that will house the hundreds of government colonists in Matanuska Valley is this first log cabin built on the project. The settlers, emigrants from the Midwest, are living in a tent city temporarily.”
While many log homes were built as part of the Colony Project, those shown in this photo were not among them. In fact, they represent the endeavors of homesteader, Goren White, and his brother in establishing various cabins and outbuildings on their property, in the vicinity of present-day S. Valley Way and Cottonwood Ave. in Palmer. Their structures included a roadhouse, seen at the right in the photo, from which they also operated the Post Office for a time.
When Jim Felton acquired the property ion 1932, he established his store, including the post office which operated under the town name of Warton until it was changed to Palmer in 1935. The roof of Felton’s store building is visible in this photo, just behind the roadhouse. The people the photo are not identified.
The Matanuska Valley Historical Photo Project is an effort by the Palmer Museum of History and Art to promote and preserve the images and stories of the Valley. If you have photos or stories to share with us, please reach out at 907-746-7668, or to director@palmermuseum.org. You can view hundreds of our images online at www.mvhphotoproject.org. This project is sponsored by the generosity of the MTA Foundation.