Early History of the Log Cabin Church
"I just thought this was how a log church in Alaska should look."
Hal Watkins, preacher and Log Cabin Church designer
Anchorage came into existence in 1914 when this spot was selected to be a construction site for the building of the Alaska Railroad. In the spring of 1915 there was a tent-and-cabin settlement of some 2000 people along the banks of Ship Creek. That same year the higher area south of the creek was cleared and surveyed, and 887 lots were auctioned off by the General Land Office. This auction was the city's birth, and the beginning of the history which we inherit with the purchase of this building.
It was at this auction that George H. McMahon received title to this land. George McMahon had come to Anchorage with the railroad crews and was the cook for construction gangs. Oldtimes remember him for several reasons. He was, first of all, a "talker," an intelligent man with a vast fund of knowledge on many subjects, and he possessed a vocabulary that should have never been used in the presence of ladies. He was the best cook in Anchorage, and though he had only one hand, turned out fine meals in huge quantities for the hungry crews. He was a character......a beloved one. A picture of him hangs in the Anchorage Pioneer Hall, a photo that was taken at the party celebrating his 100th birthday.
George McMahon had no real use for his land in the early days. As the railroad moved north, he moved with the crews. In 1916 he sold this land to Bruno Augustino, the owner of the Buffalo Coal Mines north of Willow. Augustino was a large, powerful Greek. He could neither read nor write, and unlike George McMahon, spoke such poor English that his friends communicated with him in sign language. Bruno Augustino was the first person to make use of this land. He built a log cabin here and lived in it when he was not at the mines.
In 1922 Augustino sold the land to his neighbor and friend, Art Lareau. Lareau was a jack-of-all-trades, but the occupation which he is best remembered by is that of the drayman. The Ed Davis family, who lived next door, recall Lareau riding through the streets of Anchorage atop an enormous wooden dray pulled by heavy workhorses which were pastured here at night.
After Lareau sold the land in 1940 it passed through several hands until it was finally purchased by the Church of Christ in 1944 as the site for their first church. The elders of the church debated long and hard about the desirability of the location, for the lot was on the outskirts of town and the streets were sometimes dirt, sometimes mud. Members of the church had other problems too. It was just after the end of World War II. Building materials were expensive and hard to come by, and the cost of hired labor was prohibitive. But in true Alaskan fashion, they began......using materials and labor at hand. In the summer of 1946, they excavated and built the foundation, acquired native spruce logs from the Haggenbothem farm in Matanuska Valley, and using mostly volunteer labor, began to raise the building.
Mr. Hal Watkins, a preacher, designed the building himself, and said, "I just thought this was how a log church in Alaska should look." The trusses for the roof were designed by Maynard Taylor, a member of the congregation and one-time mayor of Anchorage. The first service held in this church took place on Easter Sunday of the following spring.
In September 1963, the church was purchased by the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. In October 1991, the group moved to a larger church in the Spenard area and sold the log church to Helen Tucker and Stella Hughton. They have renovated the interior to serve as a bed-and-breakfast. They also built an addition to the original church to create a comfortable home for themselves and their guests.
Helen and Stella love flower gardening and they hope that the beautiful flowers about the property will bring you much pleasure.
