The Way We Were

Oct. 25, 1923

Volume 1, Number 1, Buy 1, of the School News of the Wrangell Public School is off the mimeograph. The publication is brim full of interesting reading pertaining to school life in general and the Wrangell school in particular. The School News, like every other publication that has appeared on the journalistic horizon during the past 300 years, “fills a long-felt want.” For the past quarter-century or more, there has been a class in English in the Wrangell school each year, with students eager for an opportunity to make use of their literary talents. Now these embryonic journalists are afforded the desired opportunity in the School News which accepts their masterpieces with proper appreciation of the gray matter that produced them.

Oct. 22, 1948

On meeting with the Chamber of Commerce Road Committee Chairman F.G. Hanford and other members of the committee, F.M. Mitchell, of Alaska Metals and Power Co., strongly urged the chamber to keep plugging for a road from Wrangell down the Back Channel to a point opposite Mill Creek and pledged the support of his company. This road would put the company’s sawmill within 20 minutes of town instead of the present long haul by boat around the north end of the island. Present plans for the mill also call for construction of a dock that will handle large ships at the mill site.

Oct. 26, 1973

Annexation of the northern third of Wrangell Island, including the homes of more than 720 residents who now live outside of the city boundaries, has been proposed by the city council. The annexation could take place without a vote of the people but would have to win approval of the state Local Boundary Commission and then the Legislature, city officials said. It conceivably could be finalized as early as this winter. A special city council session is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday for second and third readings of the legislation. City Manager Herb McNabb said it would become law in 30 days, but the ordinance would remain meaningless until ratification by the state.

Oct. 22, 1998

The school district open house was a great success this year, with Stikine Middle School students represented by over 70% of their parents and nearly all of the elementary students represented by an adult visitor. State Commissioner of Education Shirley Holloway’s visit pinpointed the successes and needs of Wrangell’s schools. She shared her concern that up to one-third of Alaska’s students may not pass the high school qualifying exam. Students in third, sixth and eighth grades will be demonstrating their competency against forthcoming state standards. Holloway’s chief concern for the Wrangell schools is in reading and language arts.