A state contractor demolished an historic cabin along the Dalton Highway near Wiseman. Alaska Department of Transportation northern region environmental manager Bruce Campbell says the state had record of the small trapper style cabin, but the information didn’t transfer to the road reconstruction project.
Campbell says the structure was reduced to mulch. The state isn’t clear about the cabin’s history, but longtime Wiseman resident and tour guide Jack Reakoff is.
Reakoff dates what he calls the Gold Creek cabin back to the 1920’s, built on a trail that accessed area mining claims.
The D.O.T.’s Campbell says the cabin does not show up on road commission records, but the state wants to provide some sort of compensation for its loss.
One possibility is building a replica of the cabin, but Wiseman museum operator Jim Lounsberry favors a more practical local tourism need: an outhouse.
The D.OT. is planning a meeting for next month in Wiseman to talk about the demolished cabin with local residents.
Listen for the full story
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
