the wash by hand on a washboard and then hang the clothes to dry. In the winter, they called it freeze-drying.” (Lundberg, 1998) In the winter temperatures could go -40 degrees Fahrenheit with hard glacier wind. The summers were full of rain and swarms of mosquitos. The colonists’ protests were minimized by government officials.
Anthony Dimond, Alaska’s delegate to congress denies Matanuska valley is a “dusty, mosquito-infested” country—as described by returning California transient workers. Dimond also termed “grossly exaggerated” and “silly” complaints of settlers in the government’s colonization project against its management. These pioneers went to Alaska from drought area of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. “Did these settlers …show more content…
Williams was nationally known for his ability to create communities with designs that worked to speed up construction through the use of prefabrication. The Matanuska colony project was designed for both convenience and aesthetic purposes. The community center totaled nearly 30 buildings. Since the colony was literally being built in the middle of nowhere with no existing land owners or township and time was of the essence; Williams was both the architect and planner in one. The usual problems involving zoning and eminent domain did not exist. While the rest of the country had begun to decentralize, thanks mostly to the automobile. The Matanuska colony had no such luxury. This was made worse by the fact that the homes were on 40 or 80 acre plots of land, making the journey to the town center even …show more content…
The center met one of the characteristics of a master or comprehensive plan in that it covered the entire community. However it lacked the other defining characteristic for it to “typically have time horizons in the range of 20 years.” (Levy, 2013, p 122) The idea of today’s large tract housing communities, although still decades in the future, appears to have existed in the colony. The colonists were given strict plans as to how their homes should be constructed. Williams’ community center buildings were all similar to each other as well, sharing common details. Most of the buildings had a prominent chimney, gable roof, multiple dormers with shallow eaves, multi-pane windows and chevron wood siding. The entrances to the buildings included a covered or protected porch, the exterior had minimal ornamentation, and the front doors included yet more multi-pane windows. The community center itself was the perfect example of public planning and architecture. “In 1992 eighteen of the buildings, two structures and one site were listed in the National Register of Historic Places.” (Matanuska-Susitna Borough Cultural Resources, 2005, p. 5) It is truly amazing that the community center was planned and built so quickly and has withstood the harsh Alaskan winters for nearly 80
Anthony Dimond, Alaska’s delegate to congress denies Matanuska valley is a “dusty, mosquito-infested” country—as described by returning California transient workers. Dimond also termed “grossly exaggerated” and “silly” complaints of settlers in the government’s colonization project against its management. These pioneers went to Alaska from drought area of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. “Did these settlers …show more content…
Williams was nationally known for his ability to create communities with designs that worked to speed up construction through the use of prefabrication. The Matanuska colony project was designed for both convenience and aesthetic purposes. The community center totaled nearly 30 buildings. Since the colony was literally being built in the middle of nowhere with no existing land owners or township and time was of the essence; Williams was both the architect and planner in one. The usual problems involving zoning and eminent domain did not exist. While the rest of the country had begun to decentralize, thanks mostly to the automobile. The Matanuska colony had no such luxury. This was made worse by the fact that the homes were on 40 or 80 acre plots of land, making the journey to the town center even …show more content…
The center met one of the characteristics of a master or comprehensive plan in that it covered the entire community. However it lacked the other defining characteristic for it to “typically have time horizons in the range of 20 years.” (Levy, 2013, p 122) The idea of today’s large tract housing communities, although still decades in the future, appears to have existed in the colony. The colonists were given strict plans as to how their homes should be constructed. Williams’ community center buildings were all similar to each other as well, sharing common details. Most of the buildings had a prominent chimney, gable roof, multiple dormers with shallow eaves, multi-pane windows and chevron wood siding. The entrances to the buildings included a covered or protected porch, the exterior had minimal ornamentation, and the front doors included yet more multi-pane windows. The community center itself was the perfect example of public planning and architecture. “In 1992 eighteen of the buildings, two structures and one site were listed in the National Register of Historic Places.” (Matanuska-Susitna Borough Cultural Resources, 2005, p. 5) It is truly amazing that the community center was planned and built so quickly and has withstood the harsh Alaskan winters for nearly 80