Pioneer School House
a.k.a. AHRS ANC-244
3rd Ave. and Eagle St., Anchorage, AKThe city of Anchorage saw its educational system come to life through this school. The town was created by the Alaska Engineering Commission (A.E.C.), a Federal agency, in 1915 to serve as headquarters in constructing the Alaska Railroad. Besides railroad building, the A.E.C. laid out and managed railroad towns, and built many public facilities. The foremost of its towns was Anchorage. In addition to its railroad building and terminal yards, the A.E.C. had constructed a post office, Territorial Marshall's office, Telephone and Telegraph Office, Municipal Building, hospital, as well as the school building. That educational facility, now known as the. Pioneer School, is the only one of those early public buildings still in existence. The fact that the school was developed during Anchorage's first year of growth was remarkable. Provisions for townsite management were drawn up so hastily during the summer of 1915 that the A.E.C. overlooked means by which a school could be financed. When the lots were sold, it was understood that the lots could be assessed to finance such public services as water and sewer utilities, fire protection, and garbage pick-up. Somehow, schools had not been included in the list of items for which assessments could be made. Because Anchorage was a government town, the Commission had to accept the responsibility for public education.
The dilemma of providing a school took months to solve. In June 1915, before the first auction, the local editor called for a school. "If we are to retain the families, and they compose the backbone of any community, we must provide the children with adequate school facilities. It is highly important that this should be done without undue delay..."
Under the laws that affected school operations in the territory, Anchorage was to receive few benefits. The so-called Nelson Law of 1905 provided financing through the "Alaska Fund" for schools in non-incorporated areas. However, that fund was based on local receipts from Federal licenses on businesses located in unincorporated areas large part of which was liquor licensing. It has been pointed out that because Anchorage did not have any saloons the territorial governor was probably reluctant to give the government town those funds. Had he done so, Anchorage would have received far more than its share. Not more than a thousand dollars were received from the territory that first year.
In August 1915 a school board was elected to oversee the development of a school and the hiring of teachers. Its members were: A. J. Wendler, Mrs. W. T. Normile, and M. Finkelstein.
The question of who was to finance the school remained unanswered. With the interest in public education, the Women's Club was formed that first summer. Also formed that first year was the Parent-Teacher's Association.
Finally, in late September the Federal government solved the problem through the efforts of Commissioners William C. Edes and Frederick Mears. By their request, the Comptroller General issued funds for the construction of what is now known as Pioneer School. The first allocation of Treasury Department funds was made possible in that the broad power of the Alaska Railroad Act was liberally interpreted.
The school was not completed until November 1915. The A.E.C. constructed the building to serve about 90 pupils during the first school year. The most notable of the first five teachers, Miss Orah Dee Clark, also acted as principal that year. She was identified with every movement towards the school's progress and by her consistent work has aided materially in making the school year an avowed success." She served in Anchorage as a teacher until her retirement in 1944. (Clark Junior High School is named after her.)
Andrew Christensen, the Townsite Manager, was ordered by Edes to take over the responsibility of "school director in addition to your other duties." In December 1916, he inherited three major problems: personnel, the construction of a new school, and permanent financing. The school board was apparently relieved when Christensen took over. The services of Mrs. W. T. Normile and Mr. A. J. Wendler during the first year had been admirable. Starting from nothing, they had developed the school and oversaw its operation. However, by the middle of the fall term of 1917, enrollment had doubled to over 200 pupils and management problems were surfacing. Besides the petty bickering, there was a severe teacher shortage. One teacher had 70 primary students and was teaching them in half-day shifts.
Because of the growth in Anchorage's population, a new school was desperately needed when the second school year was underway. The Pioneer School as well as rented space was still in use until the second school was finished in December 1917. (That school was torn down in 1938.) Some classroom space within Pioneer School continued to be used on a periodic basis during the 1920s and early 1930s.
The Pioneer School House remains a symbol of Anchorage's early public facilities and the pioneer spirit which established the city's public educational system.
Local significance of the building:
The dilemma of providing a school took months to solve. In June 1915, before the first auction, the local editor called for a school. "If we are to retain the families, and they compose the backbone of any community, we must provide the children with adequate school facilities. It is highly important that this should be done without undue delay..."
Under the laws that affected school operations in the territory, Anchorage was to receive few benefits. The so-called Nelson Law of 1905 provided financing through the "Alaska Fund" for schools in non-incorporated areas. However, that fund was based on local receipts from Federal licenses on businesses located in unincorporated areas large part of which was liquor licensing. It has been pointed out that because Anchorage did not have any saloons the territorial governor was probably reluctant to give the government town those funds. Had he done so, Anchorage would have received far more than its share. Not more than a thousand dollars were received from the territory that first year.
In August 1915 a school board was elected to oversee the development of a school and the hiring of teachers. Its members were: A. J. Wendler, Mrs. W. T. Normile, and M. Finkelstein.
The question of who was to finance the school remained unanswered. With the interest in public education, the Women's Club was formed that first summer. Also formed that first year was the Parent-Teacher's Association.
Finally, in late September the Federal government solved the problem through the efforts of Commissioners William C. Edes and Frederick Mears. By their request, the Comptroller General issued funds for the construction of what is now known as Pioneer School. The first allocation of Treasury Department funds was made possible in that the broad power of the Alaska Railroad Act was liberally interpreted.
The school was not completed until November 1915. The A.E.C. constructed the building to serve about 90 pupils during the first school year. The most notable of the first five teachers, Miss Orah Dee Clark, also acted as principal that year. She was identified with every movement towards the school's progress and by her consistent work has aided materially in making the school year an avowed success." She served in Anchorage as a teacher until her retirement in 1944. (Clark Junior High School is named after her.)
Andrew Christensen, the Townsite Manager, was ordered by Edes to take over the responsibility of "school director in addition to your other duties." In December 1916, he inherited three major problems: personnel, the construction of a new school, and permanent financing. The school board was apparently relieved when Christensen took over. The services of Mrs. W. T. Normile and Mr. A. J. Wendler during the first year had been admirable. Starting from nothing, they had developed the school and oversaw its operation. However, by the middle of the fall term of 1917, enrollment had doubled to over 200 pupils and management problems were surfacing. Besides the petty bickering, there was a severe teacher shortage. One teacher had 70 primary students and was teaching them in half-day shifts.
Because of the growth in Anchorage's population, a new school was desperately needed when the second school year was underway. The Pioneer School as well as rented space was still in use until the second school was finished in December 1917. (That school was torn down in 1938.) Some classroom space within Pioneer School continued to be used on a periodic basis during the 1920s and early 1930s.
The Pioneer School House remains a symbol of Anchorage's early public facilities and the pioneer spirit which established the city's public educational system.
Education; Social History
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
About National Register Listings
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
Alaska was once owned by Russia and was known as "Russian America". The Russians established their first settlement on the Kenai Peninsula in 1786, and Alaska remained a Russian colony until it was sold to the United States in 1867.