Page 165 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Alaska

WESTERN INTERIOR ALASK A  163

The museum also includes the
1933 Railroad Depot, com plete
with a historic ticket office, which
replaced the original 1920s struc-
ture that burned to the ground.
It was moved from the railway
yard to its present location in
1990. The 1923 Railroad Section
House was originally the home
of the railway foreman and his
family and crew. It now houses
a mountaineering exhibit, Denali Climbers Memorial in Talkeetna’s wooded cemetery
including a 12-sq-ft (3.5-sq-m)
scale model of Denali that is Talkeetna could be higher than only grocery and general store.
based on aerial photo graphs the inn. After closing briefly, the Farther down Main Street is
taken by renowned photo- Fairview reopened in 2006 and the 1930s Ole Dahl Cabin No. 2,
grapher, Bradford Washburn. is now a buzzing place for an the home of miner Ole Dahl, the
The town’s oldest building, the evening out, with occasional 1930s Norwegian-style Helmer
1916 Ole Dahl Cabin, home of live bands. It’s also a great spot Ronning House, and the 1917
miner and barber Ole Dahl, was for meeting locals and climbers. Frank Lee Cabin and Barn,
also salvaged by the museum, now housing the popular
as were the 1924 Harry Robb P Nagley’s Store Talkeetna Roadhouse.
Cabin and the 1920s stables 13650 E Main Street. Tel 733-3663.
operated by Belle McDonald. Open 7:30am–10pm Sun–Thu, P Talkeetna Cemetery
7:30am–11pm Fri & Sat. = 2nd & F Sts.
P Fairview Inn ∑ nagleysstore.com Talkeetna’s quiet cemetery would
101 Main St (corner of D St) Across the street from the be of little interest to visitors if
Tel 733-2423. Fairview Inn, the charming it were not for the memorial
Built by Ben Nauman in Nagley’s Store boasts commemorating climbers who
1923 as the overnight that it was ‘estab lished have died on Denali over the
stop on the Alaska before most of you were years. It is a sobering reminder
Railroad between born’. Horace Nagley to those setting out that the
Seward and Fairbanks, ran a shop at Susitna mountain and its weather can
the Fairview Inn holds Station on the Big be harsh opponents. Among the
the laudable distinc tion Su (the Susitna River), headstones is that of Talkeetna
of having pos sessed Fairview Inn sign, but dismantled it and glacier pilot Don Sheldon, whose
Talkeetna’s first bathtub. downtown Talkeetna reconstructed it on exploits are immortalized in the
Decorated with antlers, the Talkeetna river front book, Wager with the Wind. He
pelts, and local memorabilia, between 1917 and 1921. In 1945, died in 1975 at the age of 56.
it was a community hall and it was moved again on log rollers Talkeetna’s other hero, Ray Genet,
drinking den for both locals and to its current site. Amazingly, it is missing here as he was lost on
visi tors. In 2003, it was decreed stayed open during the move. Mount Everest in 1979 at the age
that no building in downtown The store houses the town’s of 48 and his body never found.

Historic Nagley’s Store in downtown Talkeetna

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