In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.
March 19, 1914: Mr. Neil returned on the Humbolt from Seattle where he has been for the last month getting the plans and specifications for his boat to be used on the West Coast route. From the plans and prints brought back by Neil, this is going to be the best-equipped passenger and freight boat that has ever been on a mail route in Alaska. The new boat will replace the Uncle Dan, which has done such good service in the past years, but as the West Coast is growing and the Uncle Dan is getting too small to accommodate the ever-growing business, the new vessel will more than be able to overcome all shortcomings.
March 17, 1939: While the bill introduced by Senator Walker at the instance of the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce appropriating money for an airplane field at Wrangell failed of passage, other provision was made for a field, Senator Walker, homeward bound from the legislature Monday, told F.S. Barnes, President of the Wrangell Chamber. The Senator said he was instrumental in earmarking $25,000 of the $800,000 road appropriation for use in constructing a landing field at Wrangell and preliminary work is expected to start this summer.
March 20, 1964: Headed by Mayor John E. Westford of Bellingham, a delegation representing the “Alaskan Ferry Terminal Committee - an organization of the people of Whatcom County, Washington,” were in Wrangell yesterday while on a swing through Southeast Alaska ports pushing their proposal for an extension of the Alaska Marine Highway System to Bellingham. They met with Chamber of Commerce representatives and civic leaders for a two-hour session yesterday morning and were guests to the Chamber at its noon luncheon meeting. The Mayor said he felt it would be some time before a route from Bellingham to Alaska was established but that ultimately it would be.
March 16: 1989: The 20-year outlook for use of Wrangell's airport is the topic of a new master plan for the facility being prepared by an Anchorage consulting firm. Representatives of Coffman Associates of Anchorage visited Wrangell this week, meeting with airport use and future needs. David Miller, one of the authors of Coffman Associates' Wrangell Airport Master Plan, said utilization of the airport during the next 20 years is difficult to determine because little historical data exists on the needs of Canadian mining companies. Those companies have been using the airport only since about 1986, he said, making projects for future use - based on history - difficult to accomplish. However, he said, industry and government officials on both sides of the border agree that construction of a road link between the two countries is highly likely within the next 10 years. Projections for airport use expect that use to steadily increase, but then drop off drastically once a roadway is built, he said. For example, Miller's projections anticipate 29,400 takeoffs and landings at the Wrangell airport in the year 2000. By the year 2010, however, that can be expected to drop to 20,750 per year, the report says. Takeoffs and landings in 1988 totaled 18,192. Tonnage of cargo shipped through Wrangell from Canadian operators also should increase from 5,500 tons in 1988 to 12,200 tons a year in the year 2000, the report says. With road construction predicted to be completed by 2010, the report says volume should drop to 500 tons a year by that time. Coffman Associates officials will take information gained during their visit this week and return to Anchorage to write recommendations for future expansion at the airport.
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