The Way We Were

Aug. 25, 1921

Sometime ago Col. W.B. Greeley, Chief Forester of the United States, left Washington for the purpose of spending a month in Alaska inspecting the timber, water power and other natural resources of the territory. Upon his return from Alaska, Col. Greeley was interviewed by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer regarding his trip and the quality of the timber in the Alaska forest. Col. Greeley said: “Aside from enormous qualities of good pulpwood and serviceable construction timber, the territory probably contains the largest quantity of clear high-grade spruce to be found in the United States. During the war this spruce passed every test for airplane construction, and it is now being shipped to the eastern states in increasing quantities for car and factory stock and high-grade finish. Alaska contains 100 million cords of pulpwood. She has the resources to produce 1.5 million tons of paper yearly. That is nearly a third of the paper used in the United States and nearly equal to what we are now compelled to import from Canada. There is a real solution to the paper shortage.”

Aug. 30, 1946

The Alaska statehood study, completed by the Alaska Statehood Association, is off the press and is being distributed around the territory. Written by George Sunborg, the report presents arguments both for and against statehood and is probably the most complete work on statehood yet compiled in the territory. Whether you are for or against statehood or just plain neutral, the statehood study is something every Alaskan should read. It’s packed with sound information about the territory and how it functions. And if you are a voting Alaskan, better study it before Oct. 8. That’s the day Alaska votes on the statehood referendum and every Alaskan should record a ballot at that time so that Congress will know definitely that the people of the territory are either for or against being admitted to the union of states.

Aug. 27, 1971

The city council accepted the bid of grocer Lloyd Benjamin for leasing of six lots on the downtown fill area for a new supermarket. Benjamin was the sole bidder for the ground on which he plans immediate construction of the store and a parking lot. The 55-year lease calls for an initial annual payment of $1,158.54 for all six lots, renegotiable by the city every five years. Benjamin, member of a pioneer Wrangell merchant family, operates Benjamins Market. He said the 100 by 120 foot supermarket hopefully will be completed early in 1972. The filled area was created by the city in 1956 and has been subdivided for leases to business. A new city hall was constructed on a parcel near the supermarket site.

Aug. 29, 1996

Nobody wants to think about water and sewer utilities. Nobody wants to do without them either, and it’s a fair bet that these are the city services we’d miss most if the city stopped maintaining them. The current system is adequate to current needs, but further growth is hamstrung by lack of expansion of water, sewer and electric lines to new areas around town. Supplying basic utilities is essential if the city is to open up new land for development. Wrangell’s Comprehensive Plan was prepared in the early 1980s and is very outdated. The City Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission continue to work on land-use and zoning problems, and to develop a new comprehensive plan.