Kennecott Mill Town

Cultural Landscape ReportIPART l!J 

TREATMENT 
TREATME N T 

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE 

CHARACTER AREAS 

Based on an evaluation oflandscape characteristics, the Kennecott mill 

town and associated mine sites exhibit several key patterns, relationships, and individual features that contribute to the historical significance of 

the National Historic Landmark District (NHL). On the largest scale, the entire 

NHL is viewed as asingle cultural landscape, with four elements or"systems" 

that historically defined the physical character of the landscape. The four 

systems are the: 

Mill town, where ore was processed and transported and where the community supporting the operation lived 

Mine sites on the ridge where the ore was extracted 

Tram system, linking the mine sites with the town below 

Transportation (regional) systems, focusing on the railroad and road 

systems that moved goods and supplies in and out of the mill town to the 

valley and ports beyond 

In addition to these primary cultural landscape systems, the natural landforms, 

topography, and hydrology historically defined the configuration, scale, and 

environmental context within which these elements developed. More than a 

collection of individual structures, features, or artifacts, it is the relationship 

among these cultura.l and natural resources that provides the foundation for 

holistic management ofthe cultural landscape. 

Although this document deals specifically with resources in the Kennecott mill 

town, any management action affecting the mill town will affect resources in 

other areas ofthe NHL. While some ofthese effects are addressed in the recommendations, a more thorough assessment of the potential impacts on areas 

outside the mill town should be undertaken prior to any management action. 

PA RT I I 161 
CRITERIA FOR 

D ELINEATING 

MANAGEMENT ZONES: 

Pr;tstn't areas inthe milltown thatcon• 

ta_in a significant concentration of 

cultural resources that posS<$S a high 

degree ofphysical integrityand context. 

Retain thehistoric land u.~ patterns as 

a framework for locatingnew facilities.. 

Protect a.reas in the miU town with resoorc:es and landscape characteristics 

that arehistorically important.but have 

no integrity due to loss of fabric or 

physical context. 

ld:•ntify and provide buffers for priv>te 

holdinv that art not addttss,d in the 

recommendations. 

MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY 

AND PRI MARY TREATMENT 

Cultural landscape resources and values within the Kennecott mill town provide a range of options for management and interpretation that are generally 

compatible with current use and long-term preservation of the site. Although 

the mill town contains resources from all periods of historical development,no 

effort will be made to "freeze" the landscape to a specific date, or"recreate"a 

landscape that no longer exists. What makes the cultural landscape ofKennecott 

so extraordinary is the degree to which the remaining patterns, relationships, 

and features reflect the historic character and physical layout of the site over a 

long period ofdevelopment and subsequent abandonment. 

The goal for management of the cultural landscape is to stabilize, preserve, and 

interpret the key patterns, relationships.and remaining structures and features 

that historically define the character ofthe historic district. In some cases, individual features may have such ahigh degree ofhistorical significance that rehabilitation or restorationis warranted, but in most cases the primary treatment 

for thecultural landscape is stabilization a_nd interpretation. 

In developing a plan for the long-term management of the site, the National 

Park Service (NPS) will work closely with all landowners to ensure access to 

and protection of private property. The strategy and options for protecting private property, preserving cultural resources, and integrating public use of the 

sitewill be determined through the planning process and public involvement. 

MANAGEMENT ZONES 

Based on the evaluation of significant cultural landscape resources, the mill 

town has beendivided into six management zones (figure 102). These zones 

are defined by the physical location, concentration, and integrity of significant 

historic resources as documented in this report. The purpose of management 

zones is to consolidate findings fromtheAnalysis and Evaluation and establish 

management priorities for treatment ofthe cultural landscape. 

162 CULTURAL L ANDSCAP E R E P ORT: KENNECOTT M I L L TOWN 
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TREATMENT 

T REAT MENT P LAN 

The treatment plan for the Kennecott mill town outlines a series ofactions the 

NPS plans to implement over the next several years (figure J03). The plan is 

based on an evaluation ofcultural landscape resources and managementgoals 

and objectives defined by Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in partnership with the Kennecott community.Through a series of public meetings 

focussingon the future ofKennecott, fouralternative plans were developed.From 

these four plans, a preferred alternative was selected, consolidating ideas and 

concepts from all ofthe proposals.' The Interim Operations Plan (!OP) outlines 

several actions to be undertaken by the NPS. Key actions include: 

Rehabilitate and adaptively use the company store for administration and as 

a visitor contact point. 

Rehabilitate the railroad trestle. 

Organize the miU town into land use areas or zones that reflect historic land 

use patterns while accommodating contemporary land use patterns and needs. 

Selectively thin vegetation around historic structures to reduce the risk of 

fire and reestablish historic views and vistas. 

Develop interpretative media and establish trails to enhance visitor understanding of the site. 

The treatment plan provides apreliminaryframework for managementofKennocott 

The initial emphasis ofthe plan is on stabilization ofcritical resoums,and as such 

thereisconsiderableflexibilityforaccommodating treatmentsbasedon emergency 

needs and funding allocations. More detailed treatments for the mill town are 

described in the written recommendations. The purpose ofthe written recommendations is to guide the stabilization and preservation of significant cultural landscape resourcesand to thedegree possible, retain theevocativecharacterofan abandoned historic mill town.The recommendations are therefore aimed at retaining 

the historic character, activities, and key structures that defined the town between 

1900-1938, while also allowing appropriate adapti1-e reuse ofstructures and interpretation ofthesite. Recommendations are organized into six categories: buildings 

and structures,circulation systems, archeological resources,1-egetation, views and 

viewshed,and small-scale features. 

PA RT I I 165 
It is important to note that while many privately owned structures and properties are acriticalpart ofthe mill town and larger historic district,these resources 

are not specifically addressed in this document. However, many of the recommendations that follow provide guidance to individual property owners 

interested in treatment for their historic properties. 

T REAT MENT 

RECOMME N DAT IONS 

B UILDINGS AND STRUCTURES 

The 13 primary structures and all secondary structures owned by the NPS are 

considered contnbutingstructures and should be stabilized and preserved. Priority for treatment is based on the Evaluation ofHistoric Structures (see Appendix I).The treatment goal is to prevent further deterioration and ensure future 

management options by taking all actions required to protect thesite and buildings. Table 17 shows the current priorities for building stabilization. 

Table 17: Priorities for Building Stabilization 

Priority' Building No. Description 

I 2and3 Concentration Mill and Tram Terminus 

2 15, North section Leaching and Flotation Plant 

3 9 Power Plant 

4 36 Machine Shop 

5 20 Store and Warehouse 

6 I Manager's Office 

7 5 Bunkhouse (National Creek) 

8 19 West Bunkhouse 

9 23 Schoolhouse 

10 8 Assay Office 

II IS, South section Leaching and Flotation Plant 

12 18 Recreation Hall 

13 34 Depot 

14 48 Refrigerator Plant 

166 CULT URAL LANDSCA PE REPORT : KENN ECOTT M ILL TOWN 
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TREATM E NT 

SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS 

Conduct a condition assessment to identify both the immediate and longterm stabilization needs and initiate treatment to arrest irreversible damage 

(collapse). 

Based on condition assessments and available funding, implement a systematic program ofstabilization.Required treatments will vary from building to building and may include weather-proofing roofs, walls, and foundations and repair to structural connections at floors, walls, and foundations 

to resolve lateral loads.All treatments shall be undertaken in amanner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior~ Standards for rile Treatment of 

Historic Properties. 

Identify buildings that meet the structural requirements for rehabilitation 

and make the modifications to allow for visitor, administrative, or operational use. All changes to buildings shall ~pect !he hi$tQric '1)ara,ter of the 

building and be completed in a manner consistent with the Secretary ofthe 

Interior~ Standardsfor the Treatmerrt ofHistoric Properties. 

Stabilize the National Creek railroad trestle (the primary circulation structure in the mill town) and replace failing structural members. 

Retain where possible the remnants of the historic tramlines, including 

wooden towers, tram decks, and ore bins. Most of these features are in their 

historic context and remain the primary physical and interpretative resources 

linking the mine sites on the ridge to the lower mill town. 

Retain and stabilize the pedestrian bridge located befow the site of the crib 

dam. Consideration should be given to incorporating this bridge into an 

interpretative trail that routes visitors past the remains of the crib dam, and 

features associated with the water conveyance system thathistorically served 

the town. 

Mitigate all hazardous building materials identified ill! compliance with the 

NPS/ADEC Agreement. 

ARCH ITECTURAL 

CHARACTER 

Most of the buildings in the Kennecott 

mi.JI Iown are of wood-frame c:on.structfon 

on post and sill foundations.. Most buildings ruivtgabled roofs,although sem&I 

of the cottages have hipped roofs. Build• 

ings associated with heavy industry arc of 

post and beam construdion on woodpos-r foundation$. 

The majority of the buildings and structures in Kennecott have horizontal siding. 

Some early residences have board and 

batten siding and sevtral small sheds 

have metal siding and roofs.Windows 

range from one-01,er-one doubJe--hung 

units in the domestic and administrafr;t 

structures, to four-over-four and six-ovtrsix doubie~hungwindows in the indus• 

trial structures and older cottages. In 

some c~,double-hung windowswtrt 

turned sideways to accommodate grade 

and architectural conl·enience.With few 

exception.s, the wood-frame structures 

were painted red with white sash. Small 

utilitarian structurt$,such as woodsheds, 

privin,chic.ken houses,cold frames,and 

boardwalks,were also made of wood or 

metal.(Also see«structuru" in the 

Analysi!i and Evaluation section.) 

PART 11 169 
DESIGN CHARACTER: 

ROADS AND TRAILS 

Characteristic of othtt mining sites, 

his1oric roads in the mill town were 

informal incharacter with only slight 

variations in design and material. Early 

wagon roads such as the road from 

McCarthy,th• road from the mill north to 

the Bonanza and Erie mines,and the road 

along the south side ofNational Creek, 

winding up th• slope to the crib dam, 

were relatively nanow dirt roads approximately 10 feet wide.These roads were 

"'mewhat defined by a roadbed cut into 

the slope or by treads delineating the 

route. 

Shoulders and drainage swales were not 

commonly used along these roads, and 

the condition of each road varied seasonally.Documentation indicates that in 

some cases, ovt:r the years, tailings were 

used as a surface material on some ofthe 

more heavily used roads. 

Secondary roads and access for service 

vehicles was eYen less formal,with undifferentiated routes based on functional 

need and building ace<$$.This resulted in 

few, ifany 111formaHzed•roadsaround the 

industrial complex.l.nstead,most of these 

ACCC$S routes wc,c no more than com· 

pacted soils,leaving large denuded areas 

around building$. • 

Pedestrian routes indude foot trails and 

boardwalks. Foot trails wtre narrow dirt 

trails, 18-24 inches inwidth.Wood cribbingwas used when required for steps 

and grade manges. Boardwalks ranged in 

size.from 4-S feet in width. Individual 

planks were approximately 4ind,,. wide. 

Remove all building materials that post-date the historic period or present 

safety hazards to visitors. 

Discourage construction ofnew buildings within the historic district. If new 

structures are required,they should be carefully sited (location,design, mass, 

and scale in relation to surrounding structuresand landscape features) and 

constructed using materials compatible with the architectural character of 

the mill town. 

CIRCULATION SYSTEMS 

The majority of existing circulation systems throughout the mill town reflect 

historic patterns, and these should be maintained whenever possible. Contributing circulation systems include the (abandoned) railroad corridor.Silk Stocking Road, the loop road on the north side of the site, portions of the original 

wagon road extending northeast toward the mine sites.and the primary pedestrian trail across the east edge of the mill town. 

SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS 

Many historic footpaths in the mill town are currently obscured by overgrown vegetation, or have been abandoned altogether. Where possible, 

reestablish these historic trails and either incorporate them into interpretative trails or integrate them into circulation systems throughout the site. 

In some areas, vegetation has encroached on historic roads and reduced the 

original width of the road. Currently these segments function as pedestrian 

trails or limited access routes for private vehicles.To the extent possible,these 

roads should be retained as functional roadways. 

The addition of new roads within the mill town should be discouraged. If 

new roads are required they should be informal in character (unpaved or 

gravel surface). and reflect a hierarchy from primary roads to access and 

service roads. 

170 CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT: KENNECOTT MILLTOWN 
TREATME NT 

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PA RT 11 171 
GUIDELINES FOR 

TREATMENT OF 

VEGETATION 

Retain l-'tgttation that provides privacy 

{screening) lo and from private resi• 

dences. 

Remove vegetation as a way to expand 

or direct circulation within the town 

and to protect or expose significant archeological resources. 

Thin tree canopy and understory ma• 

terials in a manner that provides oren• 

h~nct-$ historic view$htds (fr('lm specific view points to key resource$). 

Selecth·ely remo-.-e vegetation around 

hisloricstructures to reduce therisk of 

fire and pests. 

Remove vegetation as requiredand fe.a• 

sible to retain or redefine lhe tramline 

cable corridors from the tram deck to 

the mine sites on bonanza ridge. 

When new trailsand pedestrian trails are required,every effort shall be made 

to conform to standards established by the Americans with Disabilities Act 

(ADA) and provide universal accessibility. 

VEGETATION 

Existing vegetation throughout the mill town is largely the result ofgrowth since 

the historic period. In many cases,this change in plant cover compromises the 

physical integrity of key resources and impairs access (physicaland visual) to 

the significant areas of the historic mill town. Consideration should be given 

selective thinningof vegetation in several areas within the town. 

SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS 

Remove vegetation encroaching around historic structures as necessary to 

assure long-term preservation of the structures. 

Limit theuse ciornamental vegetation (annuals,perennials,shrubs and trees, 

planter boxes,and other materials for decorative purposes) to the residential cottages and the lodge. Use of nonnative ornamentals in other areas of 

the mill town is inappropriate. 

Prepare a Vegetation Management Plan for the Kennecott mill town and 

adjacent areas as appropriate.All treatments proposed in the plan should be 

consistent with the management objective of preserving the cultural landscape and historic scene in the mill town between 1900-1938. 

For interpretative purposes, reestablish the vegetable gardens that were part 

of the historic landscape, including the large plot on the north side of 

National Creek and several of the smaller plots associated with Silk 

Stocking Row. 

172 CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT : K E NNECOTT MI L LTOWN 
TREATMENT 

LAN D U SE 

To preserve the spatial integrity ofthe cultural landscape.historic land use patterns established in the early development ofKennecott should be retained and 

used as the framework for new activities and functions within the mill town. In 

all cases,adaptive use on public lands will comply with appropriate uses as specified (see"Treatment Plan"). 

These land use patterns are summarized in Table 18, Management Zones and 

Land Use. 

Table I 8: Management Zones and Land Use 

AppropriateAdaptive 

Zone Historic Land Use Land Uses 

Zone l: Administrative Core Office NPS Operations 

Manager's Residence Administrative offices 

Depot (Station) Interpretation 

Hospital Visitor Ctnter 

Staff housing 

Zone 2: Industrial Core Concentration Mill Interpretation 

Tram Deck Exhibits 

Power Plant Storage 

Leaching Plant ·Equipment Repair 

Machine Shop Workshops 

Ta.ilings Utility Infrastructure 

Flumes Maintenance facilities 

Support structures 

Warehouses 

Zone 3: Residential B North end Cottages Private Residences' 

lnlerprclalion 

Zone 4: Residential A Silk Stocking Row Private Residences' 

Old Lodge Interpretation 

Barracks Lodging (temporary) 

Access Roads Tent Cabins 

Zone 5: Commercial Store Concessions/Commercial 

Post Office (outfitters,bike rentals, 

Resident Services guide services, gift shop, 

bookstore) 

Meat house Offices 

Community Facilities Community Center 

Housing 

Tent Cabins 

Zone 6: Limited Vegetated hillsides Natural resource protection 

Dm,lopmenl Cleared h.illsides Interpretation 

Historic dumps 

V EG E TAT ION 

M ANAGEMENT PLAN 

Designates vegetation management 

zones for the mill town 

Assesses the condition ofexisting plant 

communities and associations 

Identifies management issues for each 

tone 

Proposes treatments (maintenance, 

alteration,and limited restoration) 

• Nonnativt vtgetalion (exis-ting) 

• Hazard trees 

• National Creek riparian corridor 

• Alpine communities 

Prepares a list of appropriate plant 

materials for each zone within the mill 

town. (For screening views or struclum, 1upplemen1al plantings around 

new facilities,and restorationas aresult 

ofground disturbance or rehabilitation 

of historic structures and roads.) 

PART 1 1 173 
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174 CULTURAL LAN DSCA PE REPORT : KE N NECOTT MI LL TOWN 
SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS 

Areas to the west and beyond the extent of the historic structural development (including tailings and dumpsites) should remain undeveloped and 

managed primarily for natural resource values. 

The cemetery located south of the town site is historically significant and 

should be preserve<! as part of a cyclic maintenance preservation program. 

ARCH EOLOGICAL R ESOURCES 

SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS 

Consideration should be given to the role and use ofartifacts, features, and 

structural ruins that post-date the period of significance (with a priority 

rating of 5). While many of these features are not managed as cultural 

resources, they may still provide historical information.and in their setting 

add to the industrial character of the miU town. 

Mitigate potential safety hazards for visitors by protecting structural ruins, 

remnant structurail foundations (dam, bridges, and flumes), and isolated 

archeological features and artifacts throughout the site. Suitable mitigation 

techniques include moderate clearing of vegetation to increase visibility, 

rerouting"formal" circulation routes to bypass or provide onlydistant views 

of the features, signage, or restricted access (such as aguided tour only). 

Small-scale features and remnants in the vicinity of National Creek,such as 

the clothesline, boardwalk, and well should be stabilized and if appropriate, 

reestablished as interpretative tools for understanding the domestic character of this area. 

PA RT 11 

TREA T M E NT 

PRIORITIES FOR 

PRESERVAT ION OF 

ARCHEOLOGICAL 

RESOURCES 

(TABLE 19) 

Priority I Ftature.s associated with the 

optration of Kennecott during 

the his1oric period (1900-1938) 

that remain in historical and 

physical coniext. 

Priority 2 Features associated with the 

operation of Kfflnecolt during 

the historic period but have losl 

their original oontext. 

Priority 3 Structural ruins from the 

hi.stork perio~in situ. 

Priority4 Features from multiple periods 

requiringadditional investi• 

gation. 

Priority 5 Features that post.date the 

period ofsignificance(not man· 

aged as cultural resources). 

Artifacts,features,and structural remains 

datingfrom the Kennecott era (1900-1938), 

as documented in the Analysis and 

Evaluation (priority ratings 1, 2,and 3), 

art contributing resources and should be 

pre.served in context and stabilized as 

part of a CoUection Management Plan. 

175 
VIEWS AND VIEWSHEDS 

Throughout the historic period views were characteristically unobstructed as 

most of the vegetation was removed to provide raw materials for construction, 

reduce the fire hazard.or create space for siting structures. Over the years, vegetation has not been actively managed and encroaching trees and shrubs 

obstruct many historic views. While wholesale removal ofexisting vegetation 

would re-establish all of the bistoric viewsheds, theprimary treatment should 

remain rehabilitation. In this regard, management should target management 

ofselected views and viewsheds that enhance the interpretative environment of 

the cultural landscape, while maintaining appropriate privacy for individual 

property owners. 

SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS 

Selectively thin or remove vegetation to preserve or reestablish historic views 

in the mill town.s 

Work with property owners to maintain privacy (screen views) between 

public spaces and private residenoes. 

Selectively remove encroaching vegetation from historic.trails, structures, 

and roads. Retain the natural visual cha.racter o.f shoulder areas around circulation routes and structures by thinning rather.than brushingout vegetation. 

Use views and vistas as interpretative tools to enhance the Yisitor experience. This can be accomplished by: removing vegetation to open foreground 

and.middle-ground views from interpretative trails; framing views to specific features; creating a yisual sequence ofexperiences along a trail or road 

that reveals a view; or, by providing unique and disuete views from the 

interior of the structures to the larger landscape setting. 

Concentrate visitor services and activities in areas that provide vistas to 

natural and cultural resources of the mill town and surrounding areas. 

176 CUL TU RAL LA NDSCAPE REPOR T : KENNECOTT M I LL TOWN 
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178 CULT URAL LANDSCAP E REPORT : K E NNECOTT M I L L TOWN 
TREATM E NT 

SMALL-SCALE F EATURES 

Small-scale features in the mill town historically included a variety of functional and ornamental elements, mostofwhich no longer remain. In many cases, 

these features-such as benches, plank bridges, steps and handrails, etc. were 

fashioned at the site usingavailable materials. In some cases,furniture that was 

brought to the site for use in specific structures may have found its way to a 

porch,or the front ofthe store.Other small-scale features were constructed based 

on need using materials that could be salvaged. For example, metal pipe was 

used for the handrail along the trail and steps from Silk Stocking Row to the 

company store. In other areas (around the managers office), a wood handrail 

was used. Altogether small-scale features refiected the working industrial character of the town. 

In order to allow the NPS flexibility in the preservation or establishment ofnew 

small-scale features the following design guidelines are proposed. 

SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS 

All small-scale features, including light f\xtures, benches.garbage cans, and 

interpretative displays, should be visuallycompatible with the historic character of Kennecott, and should meet all applicable codes and regulations. 

Complementary design rather than replication is the preferred treatment 

when rehabilitating or replacing historic site features. 

To enhance the interpretive environment, consideration should be given to 

reestablishing nonextant,small-scalestructures and features.These features 

include functional and ornamental elements (such as benches and clotheslines), utilities (light standards, utilidors, and water systems) and mining 

features (such as flumes). Reestablishment or reconstruction ofsmall-scale 

features should be based on historical documentation. 

Whenever possible, reestablishment of nonextant features should be based 

on either: 

•Individual features as they comprise a system (utilidors or water systems) 

•Aggregate features defining a land use area such as the administrative 

area around National Creek (picket fences, boardwalk, handrails, clotheslines,gardens, etc.) 

PART 11 179 
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180 CULTURAL L ANDSCAPE REPORT: KENNECOTT MIL L TOWN 
TREATM E NT 

Materials 

The use of metal as a material for signs, seating, and fencing in the industrial core is appropriate. If paint is required, apply a nonreflective matte 

surface paint wheneverpossible to reduce the visual impact ofan element in 

thelandscape. 

Retain the use ofmetal for handrails in the industrial core when needed for 

safety or interpretive trails. 

Maintain the graveland dirt surfacing of roads and trails wheneverpossible. 

Accessible trails should be paved using compacted granite, soilcement, or 

chip seal. 

Utilities 

Conduct additional archeological investigations and site work to identify, 

document, and assess the condition and viability of abandoned utilities 

through the mill town. Where appropriate, reestablish a portion of this 

system for interpretive purposes. 

Develop a lighting plan for the mill town that addresses both function and 

safety.Functional issues include the scale, color, and design of the future in 

thecontext of the mill town. Safety issues include modern techniques for 

illuminating the ground to meet both safety and security needs. Alllighting 

concepts for the town site must also preserve the natural qualities of the 

environment. 

Site Furniture 

Assure that allgarbage cans meet applicable health.safety, accessibility.and 

wildlife standards. Material and surface treatments should be visually compatible with the historic character of Kennecott. If treatment with rust 

inhibitor primer is required to reduce maintenance or meet standard, finish 

with compatible matte paintcolor. 

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182 CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT : KENNECOT T M I LLTO WN 
TREATMENT 

Locate benches in areas designated for visitors (!railheads, kiosks, interpretive contact points, tour areas,hotel,etc.). Benches should be simple in design, without back structure, and constructed ofwood. 

Signs 

Individual signs and informational markers were not used in Kennecott during the historic period. Because ofthis, the addition ofnew signs within the 

NHL is considered an intrusion on the historic character of the site, and 

should be kept to a minimum. When signs are required, they should be 

materiallycompatible with other builtstructures (wood,concrete,and metal) 

in the district, and be located in an unobtrusive manner. Design guidelines 

for new signs in the NHL are organized into three categories: 

Orientation (or directional) Signs and Safety Information 

Interpretive Information 

(Commercial) Business Signs 

Orientation Signs andSafety Information 

All visitor orientation ordirectionalsigns (to specific features and facilities) 

should be clustered and concentrated in high visitor contact locales. 

Large kiosks are appropriate when used adjacent to historic structures or 

associated with designated visitor staging areas (!railheads, visitor"center", 

shuttle turnaround.etc.). 

Safety signs should be consistent in material, form, and style. Variations in 

size and sitingwill be required based on specific site needs and issues.Safety 

signs will be used to identify permanent and restricted access areas, and 

delineate temporary closures for areas under construction or limited 

seasonal use. 

PA RT 11 183 
Building Signs: 

Use 3" painted white letters (Verdana Style) on red background, attach 

directly to structure. 

POWERHOUSE Approximate sign size@ 8" x 38" 

CONCENTRATION MILL 

TRAM DECK 

Directional Signs: 

Use 2" painted white letters on red background, attach with 2 - 4x4 posts 

• ROOT GLACIER TRAIL 

TRAM DECK and 

VIS ITOR CENTER • 

Warning & Safety Signs: 

Use standard metal commercially available signs. Attach directly to 

structures. 

184 CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT : KENNECOTT MI LL TOWN 
' i"R le: A T M~N T 

Interpretative Information Signs 

Develop an interpretative sign plan for the NHL. The plan should be consistent with the overall sign plan for the district and theproposals outlined in 

the interpretive plan for the NHL to be developed by the NPS. 

Interpretative signs include waysides, markers highlighting individual site 

components.and trail indicators. In all cases, the introduction ofnew interpretative signs should be based on overall interpretative plan and management goals and objectives forvisitor experience at Kennecott. 

Design emphasize should be given to the use of specific materials, siting, 

andcolorofinterpretative signs to assure visual compatibility between signs 

and other landscape features. 

Interpretative signs should not be attached directly to any historic structure 

mining equipment (remaining on the site), vegetation, or archeological 

feature. 

Ccmmercial Signs 

Alimit ofonesign percommercial building is recommended. Thesign should 

fit flush and not protrude from the structure. 

The scale and size ofthe sign should not exceed the fa~ade of the structure, 

and should be visually compatible with the structure. The use ofbright col• 

ors, neon, or letteringstyles not identified in the sign plan for the district, is 

not appropriate. 

PA RT 11 185 
END N OTE S 

E NDNOTES 

INTRODUCTION 

'Kennicott and Kennecott are the correct names of two different but closely 

associated places. Kennicott with an"i"refers to the Kennicott Glacier and River 

named in 1899 by the U.S. Geological Survey in honor of Robert Kennicott, a 

pioneer Alaska explorer. Kennecott with an "e' refers to the mining company 

that took its name from the Kennicott Glacier but for some unknown reason 

misspelled the name. The error occurred early in thehistory of the mines,perhaps as early as 1901. Regardless, theKennecott Mines Company was in operation in 1906. In 1908,a U.S. Post Office was established at Kennecott. In recent 

years, upon the transfer of the surface estate to the Great Kennicott Land Company, the two spellings have been used casualty and interchangeably. This has 

caused some unnecessary confusion.Broadly speaking, references to Kennicott 

with an "i" stress the natural history of the area while Kennecott with an "e' 

addresses the human history of the area. The National Park Service adheres to 

this convention, which follows from the officialdesignation of the area as the 

Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark.See Donald). Orth. Dicrio11aryof 

Alaska Place Names, US Geological Survey Professional Paper 567 (Washington:USGPO, 1967), p. 510. 

'Information is excerpted from the Kennecott Pre-Acquisition Environmental 

Site Assessment,pgs. 25-30, and theSite History section of this document. 

>The Kennecott Interim Management Plan and E11viro11mental Assessment will 

be used as an amendment to the park's General Management Plan. 

'See Appendix Hfor a summary of thedevelopment of the mines on Bonanza 

Ridge. Also note that the Mother Lode Mine on the east side of Bonanza Ridge 

was historically an important ore body associated with the operations at 

Kennecott. Because it is privately owned, the Mother Lode Mine is not addressed 

in this report. 

PART 11 18 7 
SITE HISTORY 

'E.arly archeological sites in the Copper River Basin are limited in number, but 

the working ofcopper is indicated through the recovery of by-products. Refer 

Donald Clark, "Prehistory of the Western Subarctic"in Handbook oftire North 

American Indians: Volume 6, Subarctic (Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 

1981), 124.11 is likely that native copperwas initially found as placer deposits. 

'Frederica De Laguna and Catharine McClellan,''Ahtna;'in Handbook ofthe North 

American lndians,651- 2(seen. I). 

3William R. Hunt,Mountain Wilderness:Historic ResourceStudyfor Wrangell-St. 

Elias National Park and Preserve (Alaska: National Park Service, 1991}, 41. 

'Lt. Henry Allen, Report ofa11 Expedition to the Copper, Tanana, and Koyukuk 

Rivers in 1885 (Washington: GPO, 1887), 132, 158. 

'Morgan Sherwood, Exploration of Alaska, 1865- 1900 (New Haven: Yale Univ. 

Press, 1965), 162-3. 

'William R. Hunt, North of53: The Wild Days ofthe Alaska-Yukon Mining 

Frontier 1870-1914 (New York: Macmillan Pub!.Co., I974), 63-8. 

7Elizabeth A. Tower, Ghosts ofKennecott: The Story ofStephen Birch (Privately 

published,1990), 12; Hunt,Mountain Wilderness, 41 (seen. 3). While the copper 

deposits revealed to the McClellan Party was probably not Chief Nikolai's real 

source the find encouraged further exploration. 

'Oscar Rohn considered the limestone-greenstone contact a likely source for 

copper deposits in his 1899expedition and likely passed on his findings to the 

McClellan group. Oscar Rohn, ''A Reconnaissance of the Chitina River and the 

Skolai Mountains, Alaska; US Geo/. Survey Twenty-First Annual Report, 

J899-J900,part 3,489.Ocha Potter,stakerofthe Mother Lode claims disproved 

Rohn's theory in 1906 byshowing the Kennecott deposits ran across ratherthan 

parallel to the contact zone. Ocha Potter, Sixty Years (unpublished manuscript 

on file at NPSAlaska office, 1939), 50-1,65- 7. 

188 CU LT URAL LANDSCAPE REPORT : K ENNECOTT MI L L T OWN 
ENIJ NOT E S 

'The use of power ofattorney enabled prospectors to stake more than the two 

discovery claims legally allowed per prospector. Before 1912, prospectors could 

stake claims in the names ofother people without their knowledge or consent. 

The discoverer would then purchase the claim for a token amount. 

"Frank Schrader and Arthur Spencer, "Geology and Mineral Resources of a 

Portion of the Copper River District,Alaska;• U.S. Geo/. Survey Bulletin Special 

Publicario11 (1901). 

"lbid.,86. 

"William C. Douglass, A History ofthe Kennecott Mines, Ke1111ecott, Alaska 

(Manuscript, 1964,on file at NPS Alaska Office, Anchorage), 5. 

\ 

"Tower, Ghosts ofKennecott, 17 (see n. 7). 

"Ibid., 17. 

'

5Lone Janson, Copper Spike, eighth printing (Privately published, 1975),10. 

"Tower, Ghosts ofKennecott, 12 (see n. 7). 

"McClellan explained in a 1903 interview that the company (Alaska Copper 

and Coal)"did not care to put out the money necessaryfor improvement [of the 

property]while the title was incontroversy."The Post lnte((igencer,Nov.19 1903, 

quoted in Tower, Ghosts ofKennecott, 14-6 (seen. 7). Asecondary effect of the 

trial was the proliferation of different accounts pertaining to the Bonanza 

discovery and· t·ransfer of claims. Five such versions are discussed in Robert A 

Stearns."Alaska's Kennecott Copper and the Kennecott Copper Corporation; in 

The Alaska Journal (1975), 130- 9. 

"Melody Webb Graumann, Big Business in Alaska: The Kennecott Mines, 

1898- 1938 (Occasional Paper No. 1,Cooperative Park Studies Unit, Fairbanks: 

Univ.ofAlaska, 1977),7. The richness ofthis deposit is even more anomalous given 

that mining engineers in the 1900sclassed five percent copper as high grade ore. 

PART II 189 
19Ibid., 6. 

"'Valdez was the first choice for aport. Cordova was eventually selected.A third 

possible terminus for the CR&NW was Katalla where a breakwater was constructed and some track laid. The railway abandoned the prospect after the 

facilities were destroyed by astorm in 1907:'Jan.son, Copper Spike, pp. 51-54. 

1'John K. Winkler, a biographer of J. P. Morgan, noted the rise of American 

industrial promoters in an "unprecedented boom period between 1898 and 

1901:' According to Winkler, the industrial promoter "would invade a given 

industry. buy up astring ofcompeting plants at inflated prices, combine them 

under ahigh-soundin.g name, and offer stock to the public_" Morgan the Magnificent: The Life of/. f>ierpont Morgan, 1837-1913(NewYork:Garden City Publishing Co., Inc., 1930), 200. Carnegie, Guggenheim, and Morgan were among 

the well-known financial houses that supported industry through long-term 

loans and syndicates._ 

"Large-scale backing ofindustry was by no means foreign to any ofthe Alaska 

Syndicate backers. J. P. Morgan, for instance played an important role in the 

development of railways and the steel industry. In 190I, Morgan purchased US 

Steel from Andrew Carnegie for $25 million and capitalized the US Steel Corporation at $1.4 billion dollars. The Guggenheims (who already operated the 

Guggenheim Exploration Company) preferred to invest in the development of 

mines rather than in tlheir working. Herbert L. Salterlee,/. Pierpont Morgan: An 

intimate Portrait (NewYork: The MacMillan Compdny, 1939}; Thomas R. Navin, 

Copper Mi11ing and Management (Tucson: Univ. ofArizona Press, 1978),255. 

" Horace J. Stevens, The Copper Handbook, vol. 9 (Houghton, Michigan: Horace 

J. Stevens,1909),840. 

"Tower, Ghosts ofKennewtt, 39 (seen. 7). 

"Graumann, Big Busi11ess in Alaska. (see n.18). 

14Ibid., 16. 

190 CULTURAL LANDSCAP E REPORT : KENNECOTT M I L L TOWN 
E NU NOTl£5 

27Anon., Outline ofGeology and Mini11g Methods ofKe1111ecotr Mi11es, Kennecott 

Copper Corporation, Alaska, (Kennecott Copper Corporation internal report, 

c.1924),6-7. 

IAA1937 Bureau of Mines publication on aerial tramways noted "their operation is practically unaffected by snow or other weather conditions. Construction costs may vary greatly with topography, but operating costs are affected 

very little. Mountain ranges are crossed and ravines and streams are spanned 

without expensive grading or other preliminary work'.' 0. H. Metzger, "Aerial 

Tramways in the Metal-Mining Industry: Part 1;'in Bureau ofMines Information Circula.r6948 (September 1937),5. 

19A review of the local topography appears in Alan M. Bateman and 

D. H. McLaughlin, "Geology of the Ore Deposits of Kennecott, Alaska;• in 

Economic Geology, vol.IS, no. I (I 920), 4-5. 

JIJAlist offavorable conditions appears in Robert Peele (ed.),MiningEngineers' 

Handbook (New York: John Wiley &Sons, 1918), 1706. Here, the author informs 

mill towns "should be [located) at the most advantageous point respecting: 

receiving ofcrude ore and delivering of products; power for operation; water 

supply; disposal ofta.iling; room for futuregrowth;safety from floods and snow 

slides.Other things being suitable, mill should be justbelow mine opening~ 

3'Photographic documentation suggests these structures may have been constructed earlier (c. 1904). They were definitely in use by 1907. 

"In order to rid an area of insects, prospectors often resorted to vegetation 

removal. Prospectors in the Chugach Range 30 miles south of Kennecott, for 

instance, burned off much of the vegetation, including good quality timber 

stands. Refer Fred Moffit, "Geology of the Hanagita-Bremner Region, Alaska; 

U.S. Geol.Survey Bulletin 576 (1914), 13. 

3

3Graumann,Big Business in Alaska, IS (see n. I8). 

l<Thedouble-reversible aerial tramwaysystem adopted represented an"off-theshelf" technology. The use of through-type towers, junction stations, and 

PA RT 11 191 
breakovers closely followed established designs (these are shown in Peele, 

Mining Engineers' Handbook, 1555-98 (see n. 29)). A junction station joined 

two tramways into one (at Ken.necott this was used for the Jumbo and Glacier 

line).Breakovers enabled the aerial tramway to curve over ridge crests.An angle 

station (on the Bonanza line) allowed the tramway to make a horiwntal jog. 

Cables for the tramway were oflocked coil construction. The cost of running 

the aerial tramways at Kennecott amounted to $6.27 per hour. 0. H. Metzger, 

"Aerial Tramways in the Metal-Mining Industry: Part 2:' in Bureau of Mi11es 

Information Circular 7095 (February 1940),29. Tower, Ghosts ofKennecott, 67; 

Graumann,Big Business in Alaska, 17 (see n.18). 

"Janson, Copper Spike, 76 (see n.15). 

-Wfhe syndicate purchased the right-of-way through the canyon for onequarter-million dollars. While the Copper River route would cost the company 

$12 million extra to build, it did allow for a potential merger with coal fields to 

run the railway that theValdez routedid not. Janson, OipperSpike, 33-4 (see n.15). 

"Ibid., 112. 

l3Among the Syndicate's possessions, The Alaska Steamship Company became 

the largest maritime transportation company in Alaska trade, and Northwest• 

em fisheries,Alaska's second largest packingcompany. Graumann,BigBusiness 

inAlaska, 8 (seen. 18). 

"Herbert L. Salterlee, a biographer of J. P Morgan, noted that Morgan viewed 

the railway up the Copper River as agreat risk, but one that"held possibilities 

for the future."/. Pierpo11t Morgan: An Intimate Portrait, 448-9 (seen. 21); 

Martin Harrais, "Gold Lunatics~ unpublished manuscript, Polar collections, 

Rasmusen Library, Univ. ofAlaska Fairbanks, 212. 

"'Janson, Copper Spike 140-4 (seen. 15). 

"Tower,Ghosts ofKe1111ecott, 57 (seen. 7). 

"Lewis A. Levensaler to William A. Dickey, letter6 May 1910 (on file at WRST 

192 CULTURAL LANDSCAPE R EP ORT: KENNECOTT MILLTOWN 
!£ND NOTES 

office). As early as 1907, development al the Bonanza claim included a cabin 

outside the main adit.A sketch in F. Moffit and S. Capps,"Geology ofthe Nizina 

District, Alaska," U.S. Geo/. Survey Bulletin 448 (1911), 87 depicts a cabin outside the Bonanza adits.The authors explain earlier that structural developments 

relied upon 1907 field recording. A map included in the pocket, dated 1911, 

appears more up lo date, with the railroad and Bonanza mine tram terminus 

mapped in. 

.,Lewis A. Levensaler to William A. Dickey, letter 6 May 1910 (on file at WRST 

office). Asmaller power plant conceivably operated at the site prior 10 1910. 

"William Cronon, "Kennecott Journey: The Paths Out of Town:• in WiUiam 

Cronon, George Miles, and Jay Gitlin (eds.), Under and Open Sky: Rethinking 

America~ Western Past (New York: W.W. Norton, 1992), 47. 

"Margaret Crawford's study of company towns in the American South similarly notes visibility as a main attribute of managerial residences. Margaret 

Crawford, "Earle S. Draper and the Company Town," in John S. Garner (ed.), 

The Compa11y Town (New York, Oxford Univ. Press, 1992), 139- 72 (especially 

figure 5.3, 149). Although managerial residences were often removed from the 

industrial area, this was nol always the case. Indeed, there may well have been 

some attraction in the existence of industrial enterprise in an otherwise 

natural setting.See for instance an 1803 description ofDowlais Ironworks quoted 

in Bruce Thomas, "Merthyr 1yd61 and Early Ironworks in South Wales," in 

The Compa11y Town,33 (see above). 

"Janson,Copper Spike, 146 (sec n. 15); Douglass, History ofKennecort Mi11es, 6 

(see n.12). 

"Descriptions of the milling process including changes over time can be found 

in Horace M. Lawrence, "Ammonia Leaching ofCopper Tailings al Kennecott, 

Alaska",EngineerillgandMining Journal 104,18 (November 3, 1917): 781-787, 

and in E. /. Duggan,"Flotation and Leaching at Kennecott," in Engineering a11d 

Mining fourna/ vol. 126, no. 26 (1928), 1009. 

"Graumann,BigBusiness in Alaska, Appendix C, (seen. 18). 

PART 11 193 
"Ibid., 18. 

'°'fower, Ghosts ofKennecott, 57 (seen. 7). 

"Janson, Cbpper Spike, 104 (seen. 15). 

"Ibid.• 104. The substitution of a copper rather than traditional gold spike at 

the line terminus, while novel, was not unusual practice. This, for instance, 

occurred in 1899at the completion of a railroad for the Mt. Lyell Company copper mine, Tasmania. Refer Geoffrey Blainey. The Peaks ofLyell, second edition 

(Australia: Melbourne Univ.Press, 1959), 115. 

5'Graumann, Big Business in Alaska, 20- 1 (seen. 18). 

"Ibid., 20. 

55Walter H. Weed, Copper Handbook, vol. 10 (Houghton, Michigan: Horace). 

Stevens, 1913), 50. 

56Douglass,History ofKennecott Mines, 7 (seen. 12). 

57Fred Moffit, "The Metalliferous Deposits of the Chitina ValleY:' U.S. Geo/. 

Survey Bulletin 755-b (1924),64. 

58Graumann,Big Business in Alaska, 21 (seen. 18). 

59lbid., 21. 

'°Douglass, History ofKem1ecott Mines, 7 (see n.12). 

61Janson,Ccpper Spike, 148 (see n. 15). 

62Graumann,BigBusiness in Alaska,22 (seen. 18). 

6l'fhis may have been caused by mill foundations being set into permafrost. 

194 CULTURAL LA N DSCAPE REPORT : KENNECOTT MILLTOWN 
END NOT E S 

"Graumann, Big Busi11ess in AlaskJJ, 22 (see n. 18). 

41

E.). Duggan,''Ammonia Leaching at Kennecou;in Transactions oftheAmerican Institute ofMining Engineers, vol. 106 (1933), 548; Horace M. Lawrence, 

"Ammonia Leaching of Copper Tailings at Kennecott, Alaska;• in Engineering 

and Mi11ing Journal, vol. 104, no. 18 (November 3, 1917), 781 - 7. 

"E. J. Duggan,''Ammonia Leaching at Kennecott;' 548 (seen. 63). 

"Thomas R.Navin, Copper Mining and Ma11agement, 262 (seen. 21 ). 

"Graumann, Big Business in Alaska, 26-8 (seen. 18). 

.,Douglass.History ofKemzecott Mines, 10 (seen. 12). 

'°Kennecott officials consistently mentioned freight costs as a key factor in the 

development of the ammonia leaching facility. Refer Horace M. Lawrence, 

''Ammonia Leaching of Copper Tailings at Kennecott, Alaska; 782 (seen. 63); 

E.J.Duggan,"Flotation and Leachingat Kennecott; 1008 (see n.45); E.J. Duggan, 

''Ammonia Leaching at Kennecott;' 548 (seen. 63). 

"Walter H. Weed, Mines Handbook (New York: Stevens Copper Handbook Co., 

1920),299-304. 

nE. J. Duggan,"Flotation and Leaching at Kennecott; I009 (see n. 45). 

"Kennecott Copper Corporation. Annual Report for 1936, Kennecott Copper 

Corporation,Alaska Mines (Internal report, 1936), 12. 

"Graumann,Big Business inAlaska,28 (see n. 18). 

71Douglass, History ofKennecott Mines, 10 (seen. 12). 

"HAER i11ventory,Sept. l982,lots 86-9. 

"HAER inventory,Sept. 1982,lots 36-8. 

PA RT 1 1 195 
"Douglass.School Days (Douglass Collection, Univ.ofAlaska Fairbanks),quoted 

in Hunt.Mountain Wilderness, 75-6 (.seen. 3). 

"Hunt.Mountain Wilderness, 76 (seen. 3). 

&)J'he small neighborhoods formed by staffaccommodations likely buffered the 

appearance of industry at Kennecott and may also have helped discourage 

rowdiness amongst workers in the mill town. 

"Graumann,Big Business in Alaslro,28- 30 (seen. 18). 

81lbid., 30. 

"Ibid.,30. 

"Ibid.,32. 

!!While through towers were one of the most sturdy tower designs available, 

they still required annual repairs and maintenance, particularly in steep and 

rugged terrain.At Kennecott.a number ofthrough towers were not anchored to 

their footings, perhaps in order to improve the speed of repair [refer National 

Park Service,MiningComplianceSite inventory Form XMC 086(on file at WRST 

office)[. 

86Hunt, Mountain Wilderness, 73 (seen. 3); Douglass, History ofthe Kennecott 

Mines, 9(seen. 12). 

"The Mother Lode Mine was discovered and staked in 1906 by Ocha Potter, a 

Michigan Collegt of Mi11es graduate.Although Potter's prediction of the value 

ofthe ore body would later prove correct, he became disillusioned with the value 

of his prospect in 1913and soon sold it to aspeculator. Ocha Potter,Sixty Years, 

65-7(seen.8). 

88Hunt,Mountain Wilderness,85- 8(seen. 3); Douglass.History oftheKennecott 

Mines,9 (seen. 12). 

196 CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT : KENNECOTT MILLTOWN 
END NO T ES 

89Graumann, Big Business in Alaska, 35 (seen. 18). 

90Anon., Outline ofGeology and Mining Methods, 9 (seen. 26). 

"Renovationsentailed constructing an extra storyon the 1910 bunkhouse and 

developing the attics of both bunkhouses, complete with dormer windows. 

Steven Peterson, Raymond Todd, and Richard Silva, Historic Structures Report: 

Kennecott National Historic Landmark 1992 Emergency Stabilization Recommendations (Alaska: National Park Service, 1992), 71, 112, 122. 

" Hunt,Mountain Wilderness, 75 (seen. 3). 

" Duggan, "Flotation and Leaching:' 1009 (seen. 45). 

"Ibid.;Steven Peterson, Raymond Todd, and Richard Silva, Historic Structures 

Report, 9(see n. 89). 

9S"fhe flotation technique used sodium sulphide., coal-tar creosote, sulphur, 

quicklime.and steam-distilled pine oil (listed in decreasing amounts required) 

as reagents to encourage the separation ofore. With the addition of water and 

forced air, this process created a rich froth ofcopper concentrates (32 to 35 percent 

copper), which could then be skimmed from the top of the flotation tanks. 

Duggan,"Flotation and Leaching;' 1013 (see n. 45). 

"Ibid.; Graumann, Big Business in Alaska,38 (see n. 18). 

" Duggan, "Flotation and Leaching:' 1013 (seen. 45). 

!&Tower,Ghosts ofKennecott, 74 (seen. 7). 

99Alan Bateman, consulting geologist for the Kennecott Mines, related 

Kennecott's mining operation to four stages: active exploration and development (1910- 1915); vigorous mining and increasing ore reserves (1915- 1922); 

exploitation ofreserves with few new discoveries (1922-1930);clearing up and 

robbing ofpillars (1930-1938).ReferAlan Bateman,Residua.ryLifeofthe Kennerott 

Mines (Kennecott Copper Corporation Company Internal Report, 1939),3. 

P ART 11 197 
1

00(;raumann, Big Business in Alaska, 39 (seen. 18). 

"'The mill began as a tall narrow structure with defined levels. By the close of 

Kennecott operations, however, a Iterations had gradually transformed the mill 

structure into a delta form with numerous mezzanine floors. 

102Alan Bateman, "Internal Report 25 Sept. 1925:' quoted in Bateman, 

Residuary Life ofthe Kennecott Mines, 5(see n. 97). 

101Ibid.,6. 

'"'Graumann, Big Business in Alaska, 43 (see n. 18). 

'°'Michael Lappen, Whose Promised Land?: A History ofthe Conservation and 

Development Management Plans for the Wrangell and Saint Elias Mountains 

Region, Alaska 1938-1980 (Univ.of California MA thesis, 1984),29. 

",.Douglass, History ofthe Kennecott Mines, 11 (seen. 12). 

'"'Thomas R. Navin. Copper Mining and Management, 254- 72 (see n. 21 ). 

106saJvage operations were indeed so well-arranged that the last shipment made 

the last train from Kennecott on November 10. Kennecott Copper Corporation, 

Annual Report for 1938, Alaska Mines. (Kennecott Copper Corporation Manuscript 1938),31- 5. 

'°'Ibid.; The equipment purchased by W.E. Dunkle was transferred to the Golden 

Zone Minesouth ofMt. McKinley. National Park Service, Kennicott Pre-Acquisition Environmental Site Assessme111 (Alaska: National Park Service, 1996),28. 

11°Kennecott Copper Corporation, Annual Report for 1938 (see n. 106), 34; 

National Park Service., Kennicott Pre-Acquisition, 28 (seen. 107). 

"'Kennecott Copper Corporation.Annual Reportfor 1938 (see n.106). 

112Lappen, Whose Promised Land?, 39 (seen. 103). 

198 CULTURA L LANDSCAPE R E PORT : KENNECOTT MILLTOWN 
E NO NOTES 

'"The tennis and handball courts, a storage facility opposite the West Bunkhouse,and two garages and one cottage south ofthe schoolhouse may also have 

been removed during this time. 

"'National Park Service, Kennicott Pre-Acquisition, 29 (seen. 107). 

"'Aroughly made water-wheel west of the railway bridge over National Creek 

may relate to the Consolidated Wrangell period, indicating the use ofalternate 

power sources. 

" 6National ParkService, Kennicott Pre-Acquisitio11,29 (seen. 107). 

'"John D. Coffman and Harry). Liek, Report 011 ProposedAlaska Natio11a/ Park 

(National Park Service, 1938). 

118Lappen, Whose Promised Land?,43 (seen. 103}. 

11tNational Park Service,Kennicott Pre-Acquisitio11, 30 (seen. 107). 

''°Ibid.,22 (see n.103). 

"'Ibid.,33 (see n. 103). 

111Ibid.,42 (seen. !03). 

ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 

'High-grade ores were crushed, bagged and shipped to the smelter as soon as 

the railway was completed in 1911. Lower grade ores were treated by gravity 

concentration typical of the day. Carbonate ores, which were not amenable to 

gravity concentration or conventional leaching techniques, were treated with a 

site-specific ammonia leaching process after 1916. Finally particles too small 

to respond to gravity concentration or be treated profitably by ammonia leaching were subjected to 0otationafter 1923. 

PARTII 199 
'Glacier Mine operated seasonally.and supported a tent camp and two wooden 

structures. 

'Excerpted from Kennecott Pre-Acquisition Environmental Site A"-sessment, 

National Park Service, December 1996. Pgs. 30-33. 

'See Recommendations for preservation philosophy and management ofhealth/ 

safety issues. 

5The notable exception is the log section of the manager's office. 

•see Appendix Bfor adescription of the evaluation criteria used to assess priorities for treatment. 

70ver the years, there have been a variety of names and numbers associated 

with individual structures at Kennecott.As part ofthe CLR, the effort was make 

to cross-reference and verify the location and name ofevery building to determine the most appropriate system.As a result ofthis effort;the names for buildings and associated numbers used in the CLR are taken from the histor.:al 

record,as documented in this report. Construction dates for building are taken 

from Graumann, 1987, and the Historic American Engineering Record 

(HAER)recording project, 1980. Additional building descriptions are from 

Wheaton, 1979, and from Peterson, et.al. 1992. Condition is from Peterson, et 

al., 1992, and field documentation, 1997 and 1998. Significance statements are 

taken from the National Register nomination, 1984 and HAER documentation, 

1980. Building descriptions and significance statements are not given for structures in private ownership. 

'Although integrated both structurally and functionally with the Concentra• 

tion Mill, the Tram Terminus was built prior to the mill structure, and has a 

significant historical relationship to the tram system, as a staging area for 

receiving the ore from the mines. It is considered here as adiscrete structure, 

related to both. 

'The first power plant was constructed in phases between 1911 and 1924,before it was destroyed by fire. Documentation indicates that the second building 

200 CULTURAL LANDSCAP E REPORT: K ENN ECOTT MILLTOWN 
F.ND NOTF.S 

followed the general plan of the first plant with boilers in the north end, 

turbines on the south, and transformers in an extension to the west. 

''This evaluation is based on architectural and historical records for individual 

structures conducted in 1996. Also see Appendix B. 

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS 

'For the complete text of the preferred alternative contained in the Interim 

Operations Pla11,see Appendix A. 

'Priorities for stabilization of historic structures is based on preliminary 

assessments conducted between 1996 and 1998. Priorities designated in this 

document are subject to change based on seasonal assessments, management 

needs, funding.and support. 

)New construction and rehabilitation ofexisting structures shall be reviewed 

by theArchitectural Control Committee in accordance with covenants and deed 

restrictions associated with individual properties. 

'New construction and rehabilitation of existing structures shall be reviewed 

by theArchitectural Control Committee in accordance with covenants and deed 

restrictions associated with individual properties. 

5Historic views have been identified using thephotograph.ic record for Kennecott, 

and to lesser degree, oral histories. Although a scientific assessment of views 

has not been undertaken, it is well documented that vegetation throughout the 

mill town was virtually non-existent as a result of construction and operations 

at the site, (beginning in 1900and continuing offand on until abandonment in 

1938).As a result, the landscape was quite open, allowing foreground, middleground,and distant views. Because the majority of vegetation in the mill town 

has notbeen actively maintained, mostofthe historicallyopen views have been lost. 

PART II 201 
ld l BLIOGRAPHY 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

AUen, Henry. 1887. Report ofa11 Expeditio11 to the Copper, Ta11ana, and Koyukuk 

Rivers i11 1885. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. 

America North Inc. 1992."Kennicott Mine Site Investigation Interim Report." 

2Vols. Anchorage,Alaska. 

America North/EMCON, Inc. 1992. "Kennicott Mine Site Investigation Final 

Report:' 2Vols.Anchorage, Alaska. 

_ ____. 1992. "Remediation Recommendations Report Kennicott 

Mine Site,Alaska:'Anchorage.Alaska. 

Anon. c. 1924. Outline ofGeology and Mi11i11g Methods of Ke1111ecott Mines, 

Ken11ecott Copper Corporation, Alaska,Kennecott Copper Corporation internal 

report. 

Asbestos General, Inc. 1991."KennicottAsbestos Containing Materials Survey:' 

Anchorage, Alaska. 

Alan Bateman. 1939. "Residuary Life of the Kennecott Mines:• Kennecott 

Copper Corporation. Internal Report. 

Bateman, Alan M.and D. H. McLaughlin. 1920. "Geology of the Ore Deposits of 

Kennecott, Alaska;' inEconomic Geology,Vol. 15, no. I. 

Betts, Robert C.and Peter M.Bowers. 1994."Archaeological Monitoring of 1993 

AsbestosAbatement at Kennecott,Alaska:'Revised edition 2Vols. Northern Land 

Use Research, Inc., Fairbanks,Alaska. 

Blainey, Geoffrey. 1959. The Peaks ofLyell, 2"" edition. Melbourne Univ. Press, 

Melbourne.Australia. 

PA RT 1 1 203 
Alfred H. Brooks. 1914. "The Alaskan Mining Industry in 1913" in Mineral 

Resources ofAlaska; Report on Progress ofInvestigations in 1913. U.S. Geological 

Survey Bulletin 592. U.S. Government Printing Office,Washington. 

_ _ ___.. 1915. "The Alaskan Mining Industry in 1914" in Mineral 

Resources ofAlaska; Report on Progress ofInvestigations in 1914.U.S. Geological 

Survey Bulletin 622. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington. 

_____ . 1923. "The Alaskan Mining Industry in 1921• in Mineral 

Resources ofAlaska; Report on Progress ofInvestigations in 1921. U.S. Geological 

Survey Bulletin 739. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington. 

Cloues, Philip and James Wood. 1994. "Abandoned Mine Land Inspection 

Report, Kennecott Mine Complex,Wrangell-St. Elias National Park" Miningand 

Minerals Branch, Land Resources Division, National ParkService. 

Coffman, John D. and Harry J. Like. 1938. Report on Proposed Alaska 

National Park. National Park Service. 

Margaret Crawford. 1992."Earle S. Draper and the Company Town;· in John S. 

Garner (ed.), The Company Town. Oxford University Press, New York. 

E. J. Duggan. 1928."Flotation and Leaching at Kennecott;' in Engineering and 

Mini11gJournal,Vol. 126, no. 26. 

E. J. Duggan. 1933.•~mmonia Leaching at Kennecott;• in Transactions of the 

American l11stitute ofMining Engineers,Vol. 106. 

William C. Douglass. 1964. A llisto,y of the Kennecott Mines, Kennecott, Alaska. 

Manuscript on file Alaska RegionalOffice.,National Park Service, Anchorage. 

Eppinger,R.G., P.H. Briggs,D. Rosenkrans.and others. 1999"Geochemical Data 

for Environmental Studies of Mineral Deposits at Nabesna, Kennecott, Orange 

Hill, Bond Creek, Bremner, and Gold Hill, Wrangell-St. Elias NP/P, Alaska:• U.S. 

GeologicalSurvey. Open File Report 99-X.X.X, manuscript in review. 

204 CULTU RAL LANDSCAPE REPORT : KENN E COTT MILL TOWN 
O I 0L IOGRAPHY 

Eppinger, R.G.; P.H. Briggs; D. Rosenkrans; and V. Ballestrazze. 1999."Environmental geochemical studies of select mineral deposits in Wrangell-St Elias NP/P, 

Alaska:• U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper No. XXX, ma.nuscript in 

review. 

Friends of Kennicott. 1994. "A Proposal for Ownership & Management of the 

Kennicott Property; Protecting the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Alaska's 

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park~ 

Friends of Kennicott. January 1997."Kennecott Acquisition: Past Present and 

Future,,. 

Gallant,A.L.,E.F. Binnian,j.M. Omernik,and M.B.Shasby. 1995."Ecoregionsof 

Alaska." Professional paper 1567. U.S. Government Printing Office. 

Washington,D.C. 

Graumann, Melody Webb. 1977. Big Business in Alaska: The Kennecott Mines, 

1898-1938. Occasional Paper No. 1, Cooperative Park Studies Unit, Fairbanks: 

University ofAlaska. 

Harris, Martin, "Gold Lunatics; unpublished manuscript, Polar collections, 

Rasmusen Library, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. 

Helm, June. (Vol. editor). 1981. Handbook ofthe North American Indians: 

Volume6,Subarctic Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 

Hunt, William R. 1991. Mountain Wilderness: Historic Resource Study for 

Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and Preserve, National Park Service.Alaska. 

___ __. 1974. North of 53: The Wild Days of the Alaska-Yukon 

Mining Frontier 1870-1914. Macmillan Publishing Company, New York. 

Kay, Simon and Robert E. Miller. 1990."Kennicott-A Hazardous 'Mlste Audit:' 

2Vols. School of Engineering, University of Alaska, Anchorage. 

PA RT 11 205 
Kennecott Copper Corporation, 1938. Annual Report for 1938, Alaska Mines. 

(Kennecott Copper Corporation Manuscript. 

_ ____ . 1936. Annual Report for 1936, Kennecott Copper Corporation, Alaska Mines. Internal report. 

_ _____.. Annual Report oftire Ke,mecott Copper Corporation for the 

Year[sl ended December 31, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1924. 

___ _ _ _.. General company records. Copies on file National Park 

Service,Alaska Regional Office,Anchorage,Alaska. 

Michael Lappen. 1984. Whose Promised Land?: A History ofthe Conservation 

and Development Management Plans for the Wrangell and Saint Elias Mountains Region, Alaska 1938-1980. Univ. ofCalifornia MA thesis. 

HoraceM.Lawrence,1917. •~rnonialeachingofCopper Tailings at Kennecott., 

Alaska~ in Engineeringand Mining Journal, Vol. 104, no. 18. 

Lone, Janson.1975. Copper Spike,s•h printing. Privately published. 

Loso,Michael G. 1998."KennecottVegetation Documentation for the Kennecott 

Cultural Landscape Report:' Prepared for the National Park Service. Park files, 

WRST. 

Ludwig, Stefanie L. and Bruce A. Ream. 1995. "Archaeological Monitoring of 

1994 Remediation Activities at Kennecott,Alaska." 2Vols. Northern Land Use 

Research, Inc. Fairbanks, Alaska. 

Martin, Richard and Robert Spude. 1987. Comp. "Response to Kennecott: A 

Preservation Proposal for the Secretary ofthe Interior."NPS,Alaska. 

O. H. Metzger. September 1937."Aerial Tramways in the Metal-Mining Industry: Part I~ in Bureau ofMines Information Circular 6948. 

206 CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT: KENNECOTT MILLTOWN 
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_____ .February 1940."AerialTramways in the Metal-Mining Industry: Part 2;' in Bureau ofMi11es Ieformatio11 Circular 7095. 

Miles,George and JayGitlin,eds. 1992.Under and Open Sky: RethinkingAmerica~ 

Western Past. W.W. Norton, New York. 

Moffit, Fred H. 1910."Mining in the Chitina District." In Mineral Resources of 

Alaska; Report on Progress of Investigations in 1909: U.S. Geological Survey 

Bulletin 442. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington. 

____. 1913."Mining in Chitina Valley?' In Mineral Resources ofAlaska; 

Report on Progress ofInvestigations in 1912. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 542. 

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_ _ _ _ ." 1914. Geology of the Hanagita-Bremner Region, Alaska;' U.S. 

Geological Survey Bulletin 576. 

___ _ . 1921."Mining in Chitina Valley.• In Mineral Resources ofAlaska; 

Report on Progress in Investigations in 1919. USGS Bulletin 714. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington. 

____. 1924."The Metalliferous Deposits of the Chiti.na ValleY:' U.S. 

GeologicalSurvey Bulletin 755-b. 

___ _ . 1909. "Mining in the Kotsina-Chitina, Chistochina, and Valdez 

Creek Regions." In Mineral Resources ofAlaska; Report on Progress ofInvestigations in 1908. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 379. U.S. Government Printing 

Office,Washington. 

Moffit, Fred H. and Stephen R. Capps.1911. Geology and Mineral Resources of 

the Nizina District, Alaska.. USGS Bulletin 448. U.S. Government Printing 

Office, Washington. 

___ _ . 1911. "Geology of the Nizina District, Alaska:• U.S. Geo/. Survey 

Bulletin 448. 

PA RT 1 1 207 
Moffit, Fred H. and A.G. Maddren. 1908."The Mineral Resources of the Kotsina 

and Chitina Valleys, Copper River Region" In Mineral Resources of Alaska; 

Report 011 ProgreS! ofInvestigations in 1907. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 520. 

U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington. 

National Park Service. January 1994. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and 

Preserve. [Danny Rosaenkrans]. "1993 Kennecott Mine Openings and Tram 

Survey Report." 

___ .. July 16, 1993. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve."NPS 

Site Inventory Form, XMC-12s:• 

____.. March 27, 1996."Final Kennicott Pre-Acquisition Environmental 

Site Assessment:'NPS, WRST. 

____.1988.Management Policies. Washington, DC. 

____. 1991. Final Environmental Impact Statement, Cumulative Impacts 

ofMining, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. National Park 

Service,Alaska Rtgional Office,Anchorage,Alaska. 

_ _ __.April 1991."Kennicott,Alaska:A Partnership Proposal". WrangellSt. Elias National Park and Preserve. 

Navin,Thomas R.1978.CopperMining and Management. University ofArizona 

Press,Tucson,Arirona. 

Nordell, 0. and A. Schmitt. 1978. "Vascular Plants from the McCarthy Area: 

Wrangell Mountains,Alaska." 

Orth, Donald J. 1967. Dictionary ofAlaska Place Names, U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 567 U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington. 

Robert Peele, ed. I918. Mi11ing Engineers'Handbook. New York: John Wtley &Sons. 

208 CULTURA L LANDSCAPE REPORT: KENNECOTT MILL TOWN 
B I B L IOGRAPHY 

Peterson,Steven M.,et al. 1991."Kennecott National Historic Landmark; Condition Assessment and Stabilization Cost Estimate:• NPS, Alaska. 

Peterson,Steven M.,et al. 1992."HistoricStructures Report: Kennecott National 

Historic Landmark 1992 Emergency Stabili7.ation Recommendations.• NPS, 

Alaska. 

Peterson, Steven M., and Logan W. Hovis, "Kennicott National Historic Landmark: Integrated Emergency Stabilization and Lead-Based Paint Management 

Program."NPS, 1997. 

Peterson, Steven M., Raymond Todd, and Richard Silva, Historic Structures 

Report: Kennecott National Historic Landmark NPS, Anchorage,Alaska, 1992. 

Rohn,Oscar,''A Reconnaissance of the Chitina River and the Skolai Mountains, 

Alaska;'US Geo/. Survey Twe11ty-First An11ual Report, 1899-1900. 

Salterlee, Herbert L., f. Pierpo11t Morgan: A11 l11timate Portrait. New York: The 

MacMillanCompany, 1939. 

Schrader, Frank and Arthur Spencer. 190 I. "Geology and Mineral Resources of 

a Portion of the Copper River District, Alaska;' U.S. Geological Survey Bulleti11 

SpecialPublication. 

Sherwood, Morgan. 1965. Exploratio11 ofAlaska, 1865-1900. Yale University 

Press, New Haven. 

Simon Kay,America North/EMCON Inc.to Gerald D.Schultz, Kennecott Corporation. 1993. "Proposed Cultural MitigationStrategies for Remediation Options 

at the Kennicott Mine Site, Alaska" 

Smith,Sumner S. 1917. The Mining Industry in the Territory ofAlaska During 

theCalendar lear 1915. US Bureau ofMines Bulletin 142. U.S. Government Printing Office,Washington. 

PART 11 209 
Stateof Alaska. 1992."PreliminaryAssessment Report for Kennicott Mine Site." 

Juneau,Alaska. 

_ _ ___.Reportofthe Territorial Mine Inspector to the GovernorofAlaska 

for the Year[sl 1917, 1921. 

Stearns, Robert. 1975. "Alaska's Kennecott Copper and the Kennecott Copper 

Corporation."Alaska Journal 5: 130-139. 

Stevens, Horace J.1909. The Copper Handbook,vol. 9Houghton.Michigan: Horace 

J. Stevens. 

Sullivan, Michael Sean et al. 1981."Kennecott, Alaska; A Historic Preservation 

Plan:• Historic Preservation Program of the Department of History and the 

Bureau of Faculty Research, Western Washington University, Bellingham, 

Washington. 

Terrasat C,onsultants. 1991. "Geological and Geophysical Investigation of the 

Kennicott Area, Kennicott, Alaska."Anchorage.Alaska. 

Tower, Elizabeth A. 1990. Ghosts ofKe1111ecott: The Story ofStephen Birch. 

Privately published. 

Weaton, Rodd L.October 13, 1976."Architectural Evaluation Kennecott.Alaska'.' 

National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Regional Office, Denver, Colorado. 

Weed, Walter H. 1913. Copper Handbook, vol. JO. Horace J. Stevens, Houghton, 

Michigan. 

Windisch-Cole, Briggitta. February, 1997."A Showcase ofAlaska's Frontier-The 

Copper River Region:• Alaska Economic Trends. 

Winkler, John K. 1930. Morgan the Magnificent: The Life ofJ. Pierpont Morgan, 

1837- 19/3. New York: Garden City Publishing Co.,Inc. 

210 CULTURAL LANDSCA PE REPORT: KE NNECOT T MI LLTOWN 
B I BLIOGRAPHY 

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCH IVES 

Polar CoUection, Rasmussen Library, University ofAlaska, Fairbanks. 

Clara Rust Collection, Rasmussen Library. University ofAlaska, Fairbanks. 

Photographic Archives, Museum of History and Industry,Seattle, Washington. 

Washington State Historical Museum, Tacoma, Washington. 

Special CoUections, AUen Library, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. 

Photograph and Map Collection, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve 

Kennecott Kids CoUection, JeanGirad photographs. 

United States Geological Survey. Photographic Library. 

OTHER 

Alaska andNorthwest MiningJournal. 1914. 

Northwest MiningJournal. 1907-I909. 

TheOiitina Leader.1912- 1914. 

The Pacific Mining Journal. 1913. 

PA RT 11 211 
'APPENDICE~ 

A. I NTERIM OPERATIONS PLAN 

8. COMPENDIUM OF SENSITIVE SITES 

C. HAER DOCUMENTATION-KENNECOTT 

NATIONAL H ISTORIC LANDMARK, 1986 

D. VEGETATION LAND COVER T YPES 

E . RARE PLANT COL LECTIONS 

FROM BONANZA R IDGE 

F. R ARE P LANTS KNOWN TO OCCUR 

IN THE CHITINA VALLEY 

G. VEGETATION D OCUMENTATION FOR 

THE CULTURAL L ANDSCAPE REPORT: 

K ENNECOTT MILL T OWN 

H. S ITE H ISTORY-KENNECOTT M INE SITES 

I. E VALUATION OF HISTORIC S T RUCTURES 

J . CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF H ISTORIC 

ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING DRAWINGS: 

KENNECOTT MINES 
APPENDIX A 

INTERIM OPERATIONS PLAN 

KENNECOTT NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK 

The purpose of this Interim Operations Plan for the Kennecott National Historic Landmark (NHL) is to develop man• 

agement strategies for the National Park Service (NPS) at the NHL in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. 

Such a plan became necessary when the National Park Service acquired the privately owned site in June I 998. The 

Kennecott site, mined for its copper in the early 1900s, is in the center ofthe park, approximately 5 miles from where the 

McCarthy Road ends at the Kennicott River. The National Park acquired-2,839 acres, including much of the historic mill 

town, the subsurface rights to the mine, and the SUITOunding natural area. 

With this acquisition, the Park Service assumed new responsibility for protecting the important elements ofthe historical, 

cultural and natural landscape. In addition to being a historic site ofoatiooal significance-, the NHL also includes natural 

areas easily accessible to visitors and is a gateway to the park's backcountry. Its cultural landscape reflects a mixture of 

historic mining era buildings and artifacts intermixed with the ongoing life ofan Alaska bush community, members of 

which own lands and businesses intermingled with NPS holdings at Kennecott and in the nearby area of the town of 

McCarthy. 

Preserving such a site and providing visitor access to and interpretation ofKennecott requires analysis of the condition of 

the historic landscape and stabilizing selected important elements that are deteriorating, determining where visitor 

services should be located, and providing visitors with ways to explore the history of the site. It requires an understanding ofthe natural features and processes of the site, in order to both preserve historic values and provide appropriate 

protection of, access to and interpretation ofits natural values for visitors. And it requires cooperation with residents and 

non-federal landowners, whose partnership is necessary for protection and public appreciation ofthe area. Existing Mill 

Site Unit covenants will be modified to more closely reflect the current and anticipated future land usage. There is 

provision within the covenants for modification of the restrictions by majority lot owner vote by September 200 I. 

Under private ownership, several important structures were stabilized through the efforts of the nonprofit group Friends 

of Kennicott. However, many health and safety problems remain on the site, artifacts continue to be lost, historic 

buildings continue to deteriorate, and many remaining ar1jfacts are at risk. In addition, as part ofthe preliminary scoping 

for this plan with the community, there are many issues pending that which are beyond the scope of this effort which will 

require future planning efforts. Some of these issues include the proposed McCarthy Road upgrade, the impact of the 

new Princess Hotel in Copper Center on visitation, and identified utility and infrastructure needs of the larger community. This plan, along with the forthcoming associated cultural landscape report, will be an amendment to the park's 

General Management Piao. This interim operations plan will be for approximately a five year period, which represents 

how long it will take for the NPS to get basic operations underway. At the conclusion of this interim, start-up period, 

there will be an opportunity to re-evaluate the plan and make any needed adjustments. 

Kennecott's designation as a NHL reflects its exceptional importance to the history ofthe United States • only 3% of 

properties listed on the National Register have the status ofa NHL. Its significance as an early 20th century mining 

landscape is multi-dimensional, a fact represented in the many themes ofAmerican history that can be discerned through 

the layers ofits material culture. Among others, these themes include the evolution of mining technology at one of the 

richest copper ore sites in the United States, the physical development and evolution ofa company mill town over four 

important decades ofindustrial growth, and the history oflabor, family life, and environment on one ofthe last American 

frontiers. 

The site's interpretive potential as a cultural landscape is compelling. As defined by the National Park Service, cultural 

APPENDICES 
landscapes are geographic areas, including cultural and natural resources, associated with a historic event, activity, or 

person. However, a landscape's age and associations do not automatically warrant preservation. As a cultural landscape, 

Kennecott's preservation is critical because its physical structures, characteristics, and features defining its historical 

significance remain. Individual buildings and archeological fearures are important, but when considered within the 

holistic context ofthe cultural landscape, they are ofan even greater value in communicating that significance. Because 

this landscape is largely intact, understanding Kennecott as a culrural landscape is a useful approach to preserving and 

inte,:preting its historical legacy. 

Stewardship of the cultural landscape at Kennecott is addressed through the many aspects of this Interim Management 

Plan, which covers a wide range of topics including: cul rural resources (including landscape features, land use, and 

design standards, archeological resources, museum collections and archives, buildings, and structures), narural resources 

(air quality, surface water, wetlands, vegetation, and wildlife), and interpretation. Integral to the Kennecott plan are 

management issues related to its administration and operations such as building leases, tours and seasonal use, land 

acquisition and easements, concerns related to utilities and infrastructure, and the paramount needs for safety and 

security. 

The plan includes the following components: 

Provides for both short-term and long-term NPS actions focused on compatible design, incremental change, and the 

reestablishment of the historic character of the site. Over the next five years the NPS would initiate rehabilitation of the 

company store for a visitor contact station, offices, and storage. Interpretive programs would be offered by the NPS, 

concessioners, and other cooperators. Exhibits would be developed in coordination with the McCarthy Museum. Struc• 

tures would be stabilized on a priority basis. A number ofbuildings would be opened for visitors to tour independently. 

Historical pathways would be reestablished and some vegetation clearing would take place. The NP$ would work 

cooperatively with the community to address the rehabilitation of the community building and fire and EMS response. 

Management Concept 

The primary NPS management goals ofthis Interim Operations Plan (see figure l03 in preceding Culrural Landscape 

Report) is to enhance visitor understanding of Kennecott by preserving, protecting and interpreting key remaining 

structures and landscape features, patterns and relationships that define the historic, cultural and natural character ofthe 

NHL. 

The approach taken would reflect the 1997 Park Service report supporting federal ownership of the NHL, "Kennecott 

Acquisition Past, Present and Future". That report stated (page 25): 

"What is (to be) maintained is the sense of ..., a site abandoned but still haunted by past residents, a place that has not 

been... sanitized. It is a place ofdiscovery for the visitor, but one where investigation and inquiry can be done safely 

and with respect for the remaining historic objects and structures." 

The plan incorporates key aspects of more than a decade ofpublic discussion of acquisition and management of the 

NHL. One key result of the discussion was the desire for cooperative management of the NHL by the Park Service and 

local residents and nonprofit organizations. 

More recently, the community and one such local nonprofit organization, the Friends ofKenoicott, have endorsed a 

shaired vision for the NHL. This shared vision will provide a strong foundation for the work that follows and a way 10 

evaluate NPS plans and actions. Most interested panies within the community envision a future in which Kennecott: 

CULTURA L L ANDSCAPE REPORT : K E NNECOTT MILL TOWN 
APPENDIX A 

• is stabilized to prevent deterioration of historic strucrures or artifacts and to make them available to the public. 

• is managed with a "light touch" in which projects are undertaken in sma.11 steps, at modest costs, with minimal 

intervention process. 

• is not just an abandoned mining town, but also is a place that reflects the vitality, creativity, and community spirit of 

today's residents. 

· • retains the slow pace, quiet, and spaciousness that foster contemplation and individual reflection. 

• is part ofa larger community in -rhich residents act both individually and collectively 10 guide the furure ofthe area. 

• contributes to a strong, reasonably diverse economy that includes locally owned and operated businesses, 

community-based nonprofits, and traditions of barter and subsistence. 

• protects and honors small-town values: safety, cooperation, self-sufficiency, and personal freedom. 

• Is a place where tourism is allowed to evolve within the capacity of the community, rather than a place where 

external intervention and control accelerate growth. 

• ls seen by local residents and visitors alike in its ttue context: a remote outpost ofcivilization in the midst ofan 

enormous mountain wi.ldemess. 

• Is managed to protect the cultwal and natural resources ofthis historic mining district and the surrounding glacial 

landscape; and provides a safe, educational, and rewarding experience for the area's visitors and residents. 

The NPS supports the goals that the community and Friends ofKennicott have articulated above. The NPS will 

endeavor to implement this plan so that these goals are realized . While the NPS does not anticipate that these goals 

would conflict the NPS goals, policies and mandates, ifsuch a conflict were to occur, NPS mandates would have to take 

precedence. 

Major actions in this plan would include implementing a program ofstabilization for historic sttuctures; reestablishment 

of historic circulation routes; restoration ofselected historic views and vistas through selective thinning of vegetation; 

preservation treatment ofsignificant areheological features; and the addition ofinterpretive facilities, including trails, 

waysides, and a visitor contact station. This plan would also allow development within the historic landmark to the 

degree that proposed changes would be compatible with the historic character of the site. In this regard, individual 

actions, such as a change in land use or the addition of new structures within the historic district, would be considered 

and evaluated within the context of the cultwal landscape as a whole. 

Partnerships 

The National Park Service considers itself a partner with the community. In consultation with local residents, landowners and organizations, the Park Service will establish procedures for early and regular discussion with the community of 

proposed Park activities at Kennecott. These discussions will occur at strategic times, such as prior to when the Park 

intends to submit budget proposals, before large scale projects are implemented, and on a periodic basis to clarify 

ongoing operations. It is understood that there may be some activities proposed where complete consensus may not be 

reached. While the NPS is committed to resolving such conflicts, there may be some instances where NPS mandates 

may take precedence over community concerns. In establishing these discussions, the Park Service acknowledges that: 

• the success of the Kennecott NHL depends on the quality ofrelationships between NPS and its neighbors. 

• there are a variety of vested interests in the area that are not necessarily organized into one official 

"representative" body, but all of whom will have the opportunities to participate in setting the course of 

action. 

• conflicts should be resolved locally ifpossible. 

APPENDICES 
The NPS will be receptive to participation in ongoing conversations with the community on issues of mutual concern. 

Specifically, the NPS considers itself a partner with the community in seeking funding to rehabilitate the community 

building for community functions and for visitor interpretive programs. The NPS would rent a private building as a 

temporary community center and park office space. Additionally, the NPS will foster community participation in a 

variety of ways, such as; 

• establish a communication and conflict resolution process for implementing the NPS and community partnerships. 

• establish a procedure for joint NPS/community review ofproposed adaptive reuse ofstructures within the prescribed 

area.. • Consult with interested community members before implementing activities in administrative area, including 

selective thinning, routing of trails and boardwalks, development ofinterpretation and evaluation oftechniques that 

may minimize flooding along National Creek. 

• Coordinate with community members on certain infrastructure and utility rights-of-ways issues. 

Additionally, the National Park Service, in consultation with the local community, will explore partnership proposals 

from nonprofit organizations that wish to share in the operation and management of Kennecott. Friends of Kennicott 

have expressed an interest in developing such a relationship. Accordingly, such a strategy will be evaluated. Additionally, 

the National Park Service will be developing a concessions plan for the NHL. It is hoped that this strategy will be 

integrated in the overall partnership strategy. 

This plan is based on the evaluation ofcuitural landscape resources, NI'S management guidelines and legal mandates, 

discussions with private landowners, and public meetings. The NPS would continue to work in partnership with the 

local residents to manage the area in a manner that protects natural and cultural resources and serves the long-term 

interests of the community by ensuring the protection ofprivate property and access for all landowners. 

The living aspects ofday-to-day life in Kennecott, both summer and winter, are ofsignificant interest to visitors. The 

NPS recognizes this and will seek means ofsatisfying this visitor interest in a way that does not adversely impact the 

private lives ofthe area residents. 

The National Park Service recognizes that a viable and diverse community offamilies and individuals existed prior to the 

area being designated a national park, and will work with this local community to manage the landmark in such a way as 

to maintain the character of Kennecott and McCarthy. 

Architectural Control Committee and Mill Site Subdivision Covenants 

When the NPS purchased the 2,839 acres within the landmark boundaries, it became the largest landowner of the area, 

but not the majority landowner within the Mill Site Unit, which contains most of the original buildings and in-holder 

lots. Lots within this unit were originally conveyed with residential-type covenants and these covenants now require 

modification to more closely reflect current land uses and to meet the needs of the NPS as outlined within this document. 

Modifications of existirng covenants will be initiated through an open and inclusive process ofall Mill Site lot owners, 

determined by majority vote and implemented and enforced by the Unit's Architectural Control Committee (ACC). It is 

the NPS' intention to recruit other landowners 10 serve on the ACC, as part of this process. 

CU LTURA L LANDSCAP E REPORT : KENN E COTT M I LLTOWN 
APPENDIX A 

Cultural Resources 

Cultural Landscape 

The National Park Service has a responsibility 10 abide by regulations governing the management of historic resources. It 

must comply with the legal and regulatory requirements as outlined in Director's Ordcr-28: Cultural Resource 

Management, the National Historic Preservation Act, and The Secretary ofthe Interiors Standards for the Treatment of 

Historic Properties with Guidelines for the Treatment ofCultural Landscapes, among others. Those regulatory 

requirements address NPS policy, federal legal mandates, and acceptable standards for the treatment of the Kennecott 

historic properties. The National Park Service will also abide by the covenants attached to the mill site town subdivision. 

Land Use. This plan responds to historic land use patterns and uses (see Land Protection Plan, figure l 02 in preceding 

Cultural Landscape Report) while providing for contemporary uses (within the historic context . Six land use "zones" 

would be delineated with the necessary covenant modification, providing for appropriate contemporary uses within the 

primary historic use areas that include the industrial core, administrative complex, housing areas, and service-related 

areas. The following chart outlines the six land use "zones," according to their contemporary and historic use. These 

zones will promote sensitive and appropriate development and will protect the historical nature of the Mill Site area. 

TABU I : LAND USE DESIGNATION 

NPS Operations, offices, 

in tali visitor center 

2 Industrial Core lnlerprcwion, SIO..., 

equipment n:pair, workshop, 

utility inf'1ISlnlCIW'e 

3 Residential "A" lnterprelalion, residential. 

lodging, tent cabins

• 1te,ic1ont,a1 ·a· North end co111ges Pri•ate residences. 

in on 

s Ruidential "C" Vegetated hillsides. cleared Residential, unde•efoped, 

hlllsides. hlseoric dum natural resource leclion 

6 Commercial Store, poll office, storeic. Conocssionlcommen:ial 

resident services. meat house, (Olllliltcrs, bike rentals, 

communil)' facilities, housing. guided tours, guest services. 

tent cabins &it\ shop. bookstore). offices. 

communi CCnlcr 

Design Standards. To guide development in the Kennecott NHL- especially in the mill town subdivision - the park 

would work with the community to establish design standards and guidelines for structures and landscape features 

consistent with the modified covenants. These guidelines would address the use ofappropriate materials as well as the 

size, scale, massing, and character ofindividual structures and landscape features. The arch.itectural control committee 

has the responsibility for implement.ing these guidelines with the Mill Site Subdivision. The ACC will be composed of 

representatives from the NPS, other non-NPS Mill Site property owners. 

Circulation and Access. Vehicular access would continue on all current routes. All abandoned vehicles would be 

removed from NPS properties. The park would work with t.he community to remove all other abandoned vehicles from 

properties wit.bin the NHL, particularly along the historic railroad bed. Primary and secondary pedestrian paths would be 

APPENDICES 
identified and reestablished within the NHL, particularly in the mill town subdivision. The primary pedestrian corridor 

would continue along the historic railroad bed and the existing road through the mill town. Existing service access roads 

will continue to be used. 

Foot trails and pedestrian paths would serve a variety offunctions, including interpretive, biking, and local access for 

residents. All pedestrian routes that are adjacent to or pass through private property will be developed with consultation 

ofthe landowners. 

An interpretive trail would be established on the west side ofthe mill town with views to the powerhouse, the machine 

shop, and the leaching plant. A footbridge across National Creek would be added to the trail to provide access to the 

company store. A pedestrian walking loop would be established which begins at the Company store and follows a 

historical road up National Creek to the footbridge and continues back down the creek to the Assay Office. With further 

evaluation, portions of this route may have limited vehicle access. Other pedestrian trails - including those to both Silk 

Stocking Row and Bonanza Mine, the historic carriage road to McCarthy, and paths behind the mill building - would 

be maintained. The primary pedestrian trail to Root Glacier would continue to be maintained north of the mill town. 

11ews and Vistas. In this proposal, historic views and vistas at Kennecott would be addressed. Selective thinning of 

vegetation on NPS properties would enhance historic viewsheds throughout the c-ultural landscape yet be consistent with 

maintaining the character of the abandoned mining town partially reclaimed by nature. The type and degree ofclearing 

would be based on recommendations in the Kennecott Cultural Landscape Report. Selective thinning means removal of 

key trees to enhance a significant landscape feature and provide protection to the buildings and site from the effects of 

fire. Selective thinning would occur 10 mark the location of manager's residence, Birch residence, staff house annex, 

assay office north of National Creek, and areas adjacent to the mill. Selective thinning would also occur around the 

machine shop, power house, mill and leaching plant. If asked the NPS would assist landowners in planning selective 

thinning on their properties. 

Archeological Resources 

Features determined noncontributing 10 the historic district would be removed if they presented a safety hazard to 

visitors or residents. All other archeological resources, including historic dumps, would remain. 

Museum Collections and Archives 

The National Park Service would amend an existing scope of collections statement regarding the collection of artifacts 

and would follow regulations and NPS Director~ Order #28: Cultural Resaurce Management 10 ensure the preservation 

and protection ofartifacts. 

Historically significant, site-related artifacts would be retained in their present locations unless they were al risk or 

contributed 10 interpretation. Artifacts determined 10 be noncontributing and incompatible to the historic district would 

be removed. 

Historic documents, manuscripts, archival material, and associated papers within the scope of collections would be 

collected from NPS properties and placed in appropriate curatorial storage. Objects not requiring special environmental 

considerations will be curated in a NPS repository on site. NPS will provide technical assistance to the McCarthy 

Museum to assist the museum with caring and preserving its collection. 

CUL T URAL LA N D SCAPE REPORT : K ENNECOTT MILLTOWN 
APPENDIX A 

Structures 

The National Park Service has a responsibility to abide by regulations governing the management of historic resources. It 

must comply with the legal and regulatory requirements as outlined in Director's Order-28: Cultural Resource 

Management, the National Historic Preservation Act, and The Secretary ofthe lllterior sStandards for the Treatment of 

Historic Properties, among others. Those regulatory requirements address NPS policy, federal legal mandates, and 

acceptable standards for the treatment ofthe Kennecott historic properties. 

Buildings. A structural stabilization program would be developed for NPS-Kennecott properties according to a threetiered plan: items to be addressed immediately (high priority); items to be addressed in the third and founh years; and 

long-term needs beyond four years, subject to funding. 

Assessments would be made as needed to identify high priority needs such as those created by environmental conditions 

or because of unforeseen circumstances. The park would continue to work with local residents in ongoing stabilization or 

contracting efforts. The park would stabilize as appropriate, the upper and lower portions of the mill structure, the 

powerhouse, and the machine shop to make them safe for unescorted visitor access. The park would work with local 

interests to rehabilitate the historic community building for community activities and NPS programs. Structures that 

would be available for adaptive reuse would be the company store, the school, the west bunkhouse, and the meat locker. 

The company store would be rehabilitated to provide a safe structure for NPS operations, curatorial storage, and limited 

visitor activities. NPS would seek the involvement and participation ofcooperators in the rehabilitation and reuse of the 

company store. Individuals and groups interested in adaptive reuse would be subject to an agreement with the NPS. 

Proposed uses would be limited to those ofan oducational nature. Adaptive reuse of buildings in addition to the store 

and community building are not as likely in the next five years other than for some minor administrative uses. 

PRESERVATION GOAL: The goal ofthe National Park Service's Kennecott preservation program is to stop the 

deterioration of key historic buildings within the Kennecott NHL by repairing and replacing deteriorated roofs, walls 

and foundations while preserving the present abandoned character ofthe site. This goal will preserve future management 

options as well. 

Specific tasks include: 

• Mitigate all life safety issues in and around the structures 

• Stop the imminent collapse and damage to the strucrures, which has resulted from years ofabandonment 

• Preserve and protect the historic landscape of the site and retain the industrial artifacts in place as part of the 

landscape character 

• Reestablish a weathering skin by repairing roofs, walls and foundations using materials compatible with the historic 

period and consistent with the Secretary ofInterior's Standards for Rehabilitation 

• Repair deteriorated structural connections at floors, walls, and foundations and resolve vertical and lateral loads on 

the buildings resulting from winds and snow 

• Mitigate water problems due to rain, site percolation and periodic flooding of National Creek. 

• Establish a day labor crew 

• Undertake a site cleanup to remove noncompatible building materials resulting from recent demolition and mining 

activities. 

• Preserve and protect documents and artifacts remaining within the structures. 

• Acquire additional parcels deemed critical to protecting the historic integrity of the site and management of the site. 

A prioritization process for determining the critical parcels will be developed. Parcels would be acquired on a 

willing seller basis only. 

APPENDICES 
The tailings dumped against the building in the 1950s as pan of a demolition effort would be removed. 

Tram Towers. Mine cables would be lowered from the tram towers as funds become available or as hazardous conditions 

require. The structural condition of tram towers and cables would be evaluated on an annual basis. Selected tram towers 

above the timberline would be stabilized to reinforce a sense ofscale and extent of the historic district. 

Bridges. A low-water crossing at National Creek in front of the assay office would be established to allow vehicular 

access for residentS and for NPS administrative needs. The historic railroad trestle across National Creek would be 

stabilized and rehabilitated to offer safe access for pedestrians, people in wheelchairs, and on ATVs and bicycles. The 

park would work to reestablish the historic tracks across the National Creek railroad trestle from the company store nonh 

to the mill structure as an interpretive component. Pedestrian bridges across National Creek ( one east of the historic 

railroad trestle) would be reestablished in its historic location as pan of the trail system. A new footbridge would be 

constructed west ofthe trestle. 

Historic Boardwalks. To provide access to historic buildings, boardwalks would be rehabilitated or reconstructed based 

on historical documentation. Priority would be given to re-establishing walkways in areas around the company store, 

school, meat locker, bunkhouse(s), leaching plant, machine shop, powerhouse, and pans ofthe manager's house and 

historic administrative area. 

Character-defining architectural features, such as the powerhouse smokestacks, the concentration mill ore chute, and the 

leaching plant/mill conveyor, would be stabilized and reconstructed as necessary. 

Natural Resources 

As pan of a comprehensive resource management program, the National Park Service would initiate programs for 

ongoing monitoring of natural resources at periodic intervals. This would include a program to monitor water quality and 

quantity on National Creek, an assessment and monitoring of wildlife populations and sensitive plant species 

documented on Bonanza Ridge in 1967, and development of a bear management plan. In addition, the mill site would be 

monitored for the establishment ofinvasive non-native plant species. 

Selective thinning of vegetation would occur on NPS properties to reestablish historic views and viewsheds and to 

protect the site from the effect.s offire and damage to the buildings. The focus of the selective thinning would be in the 

historic administrative area, including the manager's residence, Birch residence, the staff house annex, the assay office 

area north of National Creek, and areas adjacent to the mill structure. The NPS will undertake a demonstration project in 

a small section of the administrative area to illustrate what is meant by selective thinning to help community members 

understand what a finished project in the area might look like. Encroaching vegetation around the historic community 

building, the company store, the machine shop, the powerhouse, and the leaching plant would also be thinned. 

Vegetation around historic structures would be selectively thinned to mitigate potential damage to the buildings and to 

enhance the historic character of the mill town. Vegetation removal would be necessary for lead paint abatement, 

building stabilization, site regrading, and fire management. In all other instances, natural processes would be allowed to 

continue. The park would work with private property owners who wanted to conduct selective clearing on their 

properties in a manner consistent with historic district goals and objectives. The park suppons the continued functioning 

ofthe community garden. 

The NPS would explore channelization of National Creek as one alternative to protect cultural and natural resources 

CU L TURA L LANDSCAPE REPORT : KENNECOTT MILLTOWN 
APPENDIX A 

from seasonal flooding through the historic administrative area and west of the historic railroad trestle. This would be 

consistent with historic channelization structures and methods, while acknowledging the post-mine re-establishment of 

natural stream processes. Other alternatives evaluated to protect historic resources include, moving structures and reestablishing the dam. The NPS realizes that none of the alternatives may be successful and flooding may continue to 

occur. 

Parts ofthe NHL were not public land before the National Park Service acquired the propeny, and it was not open to 

subsistence uses. Hunting, berry picking, and gathering firewood would have only been permitted with permission of the 

previous landowners. As it is now public lands, subsistence activities would be permitted. However, ifit appeared that 

such activities would interfere with NPS management of the propeny, the agency could seek to limit some subsistence 

uses. 

Interpretation 

The National Park Service would enter agreements with qualified local providers to conduct guided tours. For 

consistency and accuracy ofinterpretive content, yearly training would be provided by NPS. Interpretive programs at 

KtMeeott would be expanded from existing levels, enabling visitors to learn about the mines and the mill town, the 

historic relationship ofKennecott to McCarthy, natural resources, and the contemporary community through a variety of 

media, interpretive techniques, and programs. The guided tours would be expanded to include a wider variety oftour 

subject matter and tour lengths. 

Evening and special programs conducted by NPS personnel would continue. They would be conducted in various 

locations, including the historic company store and community building. The park also would offer seasonal interpretive 

tours through public areas. Consistent with the management philosophy a limited number of unobtrusive interpretive 

displays would be designed a.nd installed in areas open to the public or where the public has a view into a structure such 

as in the leaching plant, powerhouse, the machine shop, and the concentration mill. In all cases, the park would work 

with commercial and nonprofit organizations, primarily locally based, using universal design principles to establish 

accurate and consistent interpretive information and program content. A bookstore offering educational and 

informational material, interpretive books, posters, and similar products would be encouraged in the historic company 

store. Interpretive wayside displays would be established in the historic administrative area north of National Creek in 

association with the former Birch house and the buildings that were the manager's house, the staff house, and the 

manager's office. 

The safety ofpotential tours to the mine sites and through the underground tuMels would be assessed, and the National 

Park Service would evaluate the possibility ofoffering one or more such tours in the future. 

A short, captioned video production ofthe Kennecott story would be produced and displayed in the company store 

during visitor hours for a historical overview. 

Interpretive wayside exhibits would be established in conjunction with selected circulation routes. 

The development ofinterpretive exhibits, brochures, walking tours, and site-related information for KeMecott would be 

coordinated with the McCarthy museum so that they would be complementary and not competing. NPS would work with 

interested groups in the development of walking tour materials, brochures, and other interpretive media that would be 

available for their own use and for NPS use. 

APPENDICES 
Accessibility 

The Department of the Interior has administratively determined that it will follow the Americans with Disabilities Act 

Accessibility Guidelines, provided by the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, when such 

design guidelines are equal to or greater than those of the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards. Since the Americans 

with Disabilities Act (ADA) was based on the requirements ofsection 504, ADA regulations and technical assistance 

materials, especially title I, provide additional in-depth resources for implementation of a reasonable accommodation 

process. The NPS would invite a panel ofpeople with expertise in issues pertaining to handicap accessibility. The group 

will work with the NP$ in developing a plan that provides long-term guidance on issues of programmatic and physical 

accessibility for the site. 

Administration and Operations 

Park Management 

The park would pursue a short-term lease in a private building for onsite administrative office space and storage for 

interpretation and maintenance. These operations eventually would be relocated into the company store as funding 

became available for the necessary rehabilitation to bring the structure into regulatory compliance as an operations 

facility. 

The National Park Service would enter if at all possible into multi-year agreements for others to conduct building tours, 

and to adaptively reuse some structures. All park-related management operations eventually would be located in the 

company store. Preference would be given to hiring local residents for concession agreements and for all rehabilitation 

and stabilization efforts !Undertaken and administered by the National Park Service. 

The National Park Service would continue to evaluate opportunities to acquire additional properties and/or easements 

wiihin the NHL as those opportunities·arose. Acquisition would be limited to willing sellers on a priority basis. Priorities 

would be determined according to the land use designations outlined in this plan. (See Land Protection Plan map.) 

Living space for the short-term and long-term seasonal, permanent and contractor employees would be managed in a 

variety of ways. Living space in the historic west bunkhouse would be made available for some employees as the 

rehabilitation of that structure was completed. Other structures that tlie NPS acquired would be evaluated as potential 

living quarters. Tempo·rary cabins would be placed on NPS property that would be utilized for living space. Offsite 

housing would be sought as well. Additionally, some NP$ employees and contractors' employees would find their own 

housing at market rates. 

Work on historic buildings would be done between May and October ofeach year. Restroom, shower and laundry 

facilities would be required for work crews. 

NPS Utilities and Infrastructure 

Administrative and maintenance storage would be accommodated in the lower level ofthe company store. This would 

include the storage of minor equipment and materials. Hazardous materials, vehicles, fuel, garbage, and large materials 

would be stored at remote locations, including the McCarthy airstrip. 

CU LTURA L L ANDSCAPE REPORT: K E NNECOTT MILL TOWN 
APPENDIX A 

Vault toilets would be provided for visitor use along the main road through the site. The toilets would be installed in 

compliance with applicable Alaska Department ofEnvironmental Compliance (ADEC) regulations. Toilets would be 

pumped every fall by contract and the sewage hauled to Glennallcn. The park would seek long-term strategies for 

developing a septic system on NP$ property or, iffeasible, tying into a community sewer system to provide service to 

NPS facilities south of National Creek. 

Bearprooftrash containers would be placed at strategic locations along the main road. Trash would be hauled across the 

pedestrian bridge at McCarthy as needed and taken to a park-owned solid waste transfer facility at the end of McCarthy 

Road. A planned transfer facility would feature an incinerator, recycling bins, and dumpsters. Wastes associated with 

stabilization Qumber, packaging, and construction materials) would be hauled by a contractor from the transfer site to an 

approved landfill. Lumber coated with lead paint would be stockpiled and annually hauled across the river for 

incineration at the transfer site. 

Generators and solar photovoltaic equipment would supply power for NPS strucrures when appropriate and feasible. In 

conjunction with community entities, the park would pursue long-term power supply strategies. Photovoltaic power, 

hydroelectric generation from National Creek, or a centralized community generator would be considered among other 

possibilities. Consideration will be given to technologies that are compatible and consistent with the cultural and natural 

environment of the abandoned Mill Site Area. Any potential threats 10 water resources from the construction and use of 

this type offacility would be addressed in a separate document. 

No water would be supplied for visitors until the company store build.ing was rehabilitated. Efforts would be made to 

arrange for a long~term water suppJy for visitoN: and for NPS operationaJ use. This might be achieved by drilling a well 

or developing a surface water collection and treatment system on National Creek. The system installed would be to 

ADEC standards and preclude any conflict with other landowners. 

Fuel for portable generators and all-term.in vehicles (ATVs) would be hauled in small quantities across the footbridge 

corresponding to immediate needs. As fuel requirements increase, aboveground bulk storage tanks would be located on 

NPS-leascd property at the McCarthy airstrip. A contractor would deliver diesel fuel by air or ground transportation to a 

bulk tank. Fuel would be transferred from the bulk tank to Kennecott in a pickup-mounted tank. 

Safety and Security 

Hazardous materials and debris that could present safety concerns would be removed from NPS properties. This would 

include items like boards with exposed nails, shards of metal, cable fragments, miscellaneous tools or machinery, and 

other potentially dangerous articles. 

NPS would initiate a program 10 limit and control access to buildings. Signs restricting or prohibiting access into NPS 

propenies would be placed in appropriate locations. Broken doors and locks would be repaired and replaced as 

appropriate. Windows would be replaced, and mechanisms to prevent unauthorized and unsafe access would be used 

such as shutters, wire mesh, or other appropriate devices. Identified visitor access routes into and around buildings would 

be improved to remove all immediate dangers, and signs would be located appropriately to indicate safe routes. 

According to the National Fire Protection Association, the single largest cause offire in historic buildings is arson. The 

NPS would undertake a fire assessment and implement a fire prevention program. Fire extinguishers would be placed in 

all NFS-owned properties. Fire escape routes would be identified for all NPS-owned buildings, and battery lights would 

be available for emergencies. A local year-round caretaker would be hired to provide site security. 

APPENDICES 
The park would work with the community to improve community firefighting capabilities, including participating in a 

volunteer fire department for the mill town and the ability to temporarily dam National Creek and pump water for fire 

suppression. A portable pump and hose would be on hand to draw water from National Creek for firefighting. There are 

existing water rights, and future requests to withdraw surface water would be analyzed individually. 

In the long term, a system would be established to detect fire and security risks on all NPS-owned structures. As a water 

supply was developed, sprinkler systems would be installed in the visitor center anctother occupied NPS buildings south 

ofNational Creek. The park would initiate hazardous-fuel reduction measures around NPS-owned properties to reduce 

the fire hazard from adjacent landscape elements and would work with the community to reduce fire hazards on private 

properties. 

The park would continue to work with the community to develop a strategy for community-wide emergency medical 

services. Law enforcement would continue to be addressed individually through various jurisdictional entities including 

the NPS, where appropriate. · 

Hazards 

As p;an of the acquisition of the Kennecott properties by the National Park Service, a number ofstipulations pertaining to 

hazardous wastes and lead paint were ~ !l!b!ished. The National Park Service has entered a~ecments with the Alaska 

Department ofEnvironmental Compliance, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Justice Department. 

Under those agreements, the National Park Service affirmed its obligation pertaining to the abatement oflead paint 

haza-rds in accordance with state and OSHA regulations pertaining to worker safety and training. Asbestos will be 

removed from Jumbo Mine; Erie Mine would be closed to access due to asbestos; and monitoring will be conducted in 

the dumpsites at the mill town. The historic dumps do not pose an unacceptable risk, but the groundwater will be 

moD'itored for hazardous substances. 

Budget 

The table below describes both projects that are ongoing and those that are anticipated within the next five years. There 

is no guarantee that projects on the requested list will be funded. The full scope of work and the budgetary requirements 

are presently being developed for a longer stabilization effort. As the NPS begins 10 work at the site, questions and 

operational procedures pertaining to logistics, production and capabilities ofthe local work crews, potential contracting 

options and technical difficulties are becoming more clearly defmed. Accordingly, funding requirements in subsequent 

years will be clearer 

CUL T URAL L ANDSCAPE REPORT : KENNECOTT M I L L TOWN 
APPENDIX A 

COMPLETED OR ONGOING PROJECTS C:O...ISI 

STRUCTURAL STABILIZATION 

Slabillze Ora Chute, Repw MIU Building, Reglllde 2251< 

CINk area 

Coned Unaale Buomna Oetlclencles 55.7K 

Slablllz:atio.i of Kennecoct Machine Shop & 1801( 

RelroedOe...... 

l.e8dPailtM 1.5M 

Slablize Reautlon Hall 1501< 

RESEARCH &DOCUMENTATION 

Colec:tion t Plan ror Machine """" 47.51( 

l~nllltion ofKennecotl Cullutal Lanc:IIQlpe 30,4K 

RenNt 

Produce Kennec:ott Kieft Oral H_,,., 10!( 

ENVIRONMENTAL 

Mine SI.M'WW n.."'" end -""- 1251< 

FUTURE REQUESTS eo.ta ISi 

STRUCTURAL STABILIZATION 

Stabilization ofA&UV Build•- . 801( 

Slabilzatlon of Bu-,a 

ofMa- Mil •~ 

140K 

Slabilzation & Stole 1301( 

SlablkaUon of Tram Tl#MOUM, Tallnga HOISi 120K 

House & R.-.,rallon Plant 

Slabllzation ofWest Bunkhouse & P-Plant 120K 

Slabllzaticn ofKennecott I.each""' Plant 140K 

Rehabilltate Kennecott Store for llllltorContac:t 700!(

Station 

RESEARCH &DOCUMENTATION 

Histollc Resource:§: 1501< 

Kennecoll NHL on CD-ROM 1001( 

HAER Doc:umentation of KelllNl<)Qft Tram svaem 33.6K 

Visitation 

Completion ofmajor upgrades to the existing Chitina to McCarthy gravel road is not expected within the next five years. 

While levels of visitation may increase with improved maintenance of the road, high annual increases are not expected. 

However, when the McCarthy Road is upgraded a re-evaluation ofvisitor impacts will be needed. 

The recently upgraded McCarthy airstrip has the potential for handling a greater number of visitors to the area. The new 

Princess Hotel slated for opening in Copper Center in 2002 may yield increased visitation by this means. However, it is 

not known at 'this time how many visitors this may entail. 

Promotion of the area needs to be moderated by the desire of the NPS and the community to offer visitors a quality 

experience, and 10 minimize impacts on the surrounding community and natural areas. 

A PPENDICES 
Anticipated VisitationFrom McCarthy Road /Chitina Roundiable Project, April 2000 and State ofAlaska Department ofTransportation and 

Public Facilities. Siatistics are from the low growth scenario of.75% 

YNr Anticipated Number 

ofVltlltDra by Road 

tvehlclNl 

Anticipated Number 

of Vleltors by .Air 

lnlanNl 

2000 8012 470 

2005 8.704 822 

2010 9527 1174 

2015 11 098 1528 

2020 11.864 1878 

CUL T URAL LANDSCA PE REPORT : KENNECOTT MI L L TOWN 
APPENDIX 8 

Appendix B: Compendium ofSensitive Sites 

The National Park Service is required by federal regulations in Title 36 CFR 2.1(5) to protect areas such as Kennecott 

National Historic Site by designating areas and conditions under which people may visit and use the cultural and 

an:heological sites. The designations and conditions are designed to protect sensitive cultural and archeological sites and 

to protect the public from hazards in those sites. The Park Service proposes to continue to permit access to the Kennecott 

Historic Site with many of the same conditions that existed when the area was private property. The National Park 

Service does not intend these regulations to regulate the actions ofpeople on private property in the National Historic 

Site. 

The Park Service will continue to permit public access to tbe grounds throughout the historic site. 

CONDITION 1) Entry is prohibited into buildings that are barricaded or signed as closed. Do 

not pass beyond barricades, climb through windows, or remove boards to enter closed 

buildings. 

This closure protects both the historic structures andcontentsfrom vandalism andthe public 

from the safety hazards found in these unstable buildings. 

CONDITION 2) Mine tunnels and other openings in the Kennecott Historic Site are closed to 

entry. 

STAYOUTAND STAYALIVE. These abandoned mines contain hazards that could result 

in serious injury or death. They have decayed support timbers, unsafe ladders, rotten 

structures, unstable explosives, deep pools ofwater, cave-ins, rocks falling from umtable 

ceilings and walls, deadly gas, lack ofoxygen, concealed or thinly covered vertical shafts in 

tunneljloon. YOUARE COURTING SERIOUS INJURYOR DEATH BYENTERING 

THESE OPENINGS. STAYOUTAND STAYALIVE. 

CONDITION 3) Camping is not permitted in, or on, any of the historic structures in the 

Kennecott National Historic Site. Camping is not permitted in the mill town. The mill town 

is the collection of buildings clustered around the mill on both sides of National Cr eek. 

Part ofthe attraction ofthe Kennecott Mill Town is the historic scene preunted by the mill 

buildings. Camping is prohibited to preserve the historic scene and to lower the temptation to 

use the buildingsfor shelter. Camping ispermitted north ofJumbo Creek. 

CONDITION 4) Fires are not permitted inside ofany building or within 300 feet ofany of the 

historic buildings or structures in the Kennecott National Historic Site. 

The historic buildings and structures are made ofwood There is no way to put out a structural 

fire at the site. 

APPENDICES 
.. . . 

/ : I : .' 

i ,. 

APP~NOIX C 

HAER MAPS 

__................--·---·----------- ··----· ... ........ .. . ... 
-- -

.., ____.. -----------

f 

•

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APPENDIX C 

- \::L.- . .. . -

-- - -~..~ :, --= 

APPENDICES 
- -- - ---·..-------·-----·-·---.. _::__, ..., ·- • ----.- - -=-~ 

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT : KENNECOTT M ILL TOWN 
-- -

APPENDIX C 

-.:.&.. . ... -

d 

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\ ...._.,_ ~ .,. . ' .. . . .... /""" ..?/ ~ 

• : i . . ,.,••✓ 

APPENDICES 
- ~----·--· 

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r- ··1 . 19 • 

....-... 

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPO RT: KENNECOTT M I L L TOWN 
-- -

APt'l:.NOIX C 

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A PPENDICES 
OONClE~'ll'RATXON 

M][LL - 1938 

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CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT : KENNECOTT MILLTOWN 
A PPENDIX D 

APPENDIX D: l<ENNu:oTr NATIONAL HISTORIC LANOMARIC LAN!lcoVDl TYPES 

LllacleovcrType 

%of 

Total 

Acra Acrcap, 

•.4 of 

Total 

Cloadlea 

Acrca-

%ofTotal 

Vecef.lled 

Acnap 

T,- Closed broadleaf 310.29 2.68 3.04 6.1S 

Open while spruce 128.54 0.91 1.03 2.21 

Open broedleaf 20.24 0.14 0.16 0.36 

Total acrca- 529.07 3.71 4.23 9.39 

Low and 1111 shrubs Closed tall shrub 1,020.10 7.20 I.IS 18.09 

Open low shnJb 767.02 5.41 6.13 13.6< 

Closed low shrub 462.57 3.26 3.69 8.20 

Open tatI sluub 327.S8 2.31 2.62 S.81 

Tolalacra- 1 ..77.27 18.11 20.59 ~-7~ 

Dwm-fshrubs 

Herbaceous plants 

TolalacreaGnminoid 

DlyBryoid 

WetBryoid 

Forl, 

689.63 4.87 

239.07 1.69 

89.8S 0.63 

12.4S 0.09 

1.33 0.01 

342.70 2..Cl 

5.51 

1.91 

0.72 

0.10 

0.01 

l.74 

12.23 

4.24 

I.SI 

0.22 

0.02 

6.07 

Sparse vcgelalion' 

Totalac- J,.C99.13 

....~,.ao 

10.57 

39.77 

11.970 

"5.04 

26.5! 

Tolalacna811Te11' 

Glacier/snow 

Weter 

5,077.16 

1,799.36 

7.71 ,, --. -

3S.82 

12.70 

o.os 

48.5? 

40.54 

14.3'. 

0.06 

54.97 

I '"".Jji 11.64 

Clos:si(tealion based on Paci(JC Meridlan RcsouJces. · w..,.11-SL Elias National P1rt and~ 

Lendcovcr Mapping Project: Final ltcport" (1997). Map Im an ovcnll minlmwn classification 

IIXUl1ICY of78.7%. 

APPENDICES 
APPENDIX E 

APPENDIX E: RARE PlA1"1' COLLECTIONSFROM BoNANZA RIDCt 

AIIBUVIATIONS: 

O• aJ<>bolrule 

R• -rule 

01 • cridcally imperilod globolly, (5 occ:una,ces or rew.r) 

02 • imperiled a)obl1ly (<>-20 -> 

OJ • eilbcr vuy rue ud locol llltoqboul ilS ,....or (oond locolly ill a restricted range, 21- 100 ocewmiecs, lhmla>ed lbroughout ilS

-

04- wiclapiead ud appomnly-,re s)ol,olly, although~ may bo quite,.. in pans o(;,. ...,.., e,pec:ially at the pcripllery 

05 • dcmoamalliy.....,. s)ol,olly, althoql, k 1111)' bo quite rue i,, pons o(ib range 

Tl • slol>oJ rule o(lbe described subspecies or vvidy 

• glollol rule or-ieoIUICOrtlie, beat dcscribod as • ranp-.,the two rants 

OfQ • - ..-iaiolyal>outtlxoaomic ltalus tbat miaJ,t alfeet gJollol rant 

SI • critically ~edin Ibo- 5 or r.-occumnocs S2 • imperiled in the stale, 6-20-

SJ • ran,or"""""""' in Ibo stale, 21- 100.....,_ 

AKNHP ColL 

Tno CommoaN1me Faml"' Ra k' Coll«tor No. Date Habitat Htrb' 

AJJN"'8l"IU Aleutian cress Brassica<:cac 03/SJ Nordtll & 163 1976 LD; tsducho/Jzlamu 'mustard famil"' Schmitt ALA 

CaruJ)IYJlil Prcsl's sedge Cypc,accae 04/SI Nordtll & 544 1976 Very common along LD 

(sedge family) Schmitt the old road, up to 

about 1,200 m., 

fom,ing dense 

russocbupto40 

cm tall 

Cy,toptm, Mountain fhgilc Dryoptcridaceac 05/SJ Nordtll & 580 1976 Solita,y specimens LD; 

monJana fem (wood fem Schmitt in Pop.Ju, scrub ALA 

famjlv\ 

J"'1ipcna Creeping savin Cupressaccac G5/SlS2 Nordtll s.n. 1976 LD; horizt»,JQ/i, famil•' ALA 

MlnwJrtia bif/ora Mountain CatyophyUaccae G5/S2 Nordell & 95 1976 LD; stilchwoll (pink family) Scllmltt 416b ALA 

450 

Ptl{J(Ner Pale poppy Papavmccac G3IS3 Dodge 1993 Rubble and talus WRST alborouwn ,_ftlfllilv\ sJon. 5.800 fl. 

Papave, Palcl'oppy Papevcraccae 03/SJ Nordtll & I 1976 LD; aJb,ros,,.,,, (Poppy Family) Schmitt IOI ALA 

160 

166 

171 

301 

464 

I. AKNHP• Alasu Natonl Heritage Prosn,n, 

2. Herblrium ordepooition. ALA • Uoivasity ofAlub, FM>Ollk, Museom. U> • Lwx1 Univcnify, No.way; WRST • Wrangdl-Sl Elias Nwooal l'lrt ud Preserve. 

APPEND ICES 
APPENDIX F 

APPENDIX F: RAU PLANTS KNOWN TO OCcua IN 111£ OIITINA VALLEY 

OIi Bouaza Rldce tut IN listed ID Appnidm E) 

-'-&VIATIONS: 

G•.,..ruk 

R• IClllmk 

GI •crilioally imprriledpol,dy,('°"'"'""""'"",._) 

Ol • ...,.,Walobolly (6-20occ.,_) 

OJ •eitllerw,,yrnand local~ils,....orfouod locall)' iD 1racric11d ,_,21-1oooccuneaces, lllrealmodtbroup>ut 

ils- G4 L w· t 11 ...,uc1 ._...iy""'"...,1y,ll1hoGp nmay be qaJ1e,... ID pons or ill ,_._illly •~periphery 

ruL •-lbl) -&loliall),. alaoqj, n..,, be quite rue in por11 om,,_ 

Tf •alobllrukoflbodescribod...,,._lcsorva,ie!y 

GIGll • aloblll'IDkofspoclcs-.,11c11clacribed111..,.._11'e...,._ 

O#Q• IOQICI 1aiol) ..---dlll miplatreclalollll rut 

SI• criCicolly iffll>criled11111'e _,.,Sor_,.........,.., 

Sl•~intlle-6-20....,.._ 

SJ•rueormcommo1indle.- 21- ·I 

N1mberor 

T.....,,,..,,,.,ICCN11ao1 N1110 ,,,_,I,,,,,_

Asec,--.(sunllower family) -•----'• 

AKNm 

Raak' 

G4G5S1 

0ccu....... 

ID Park 

2 Alpine meadows 

Habitat 

Ag,tutll~- G5S2 2 Maic alpine meadowt 

Poeocae(ar1mfamlly)

11wrt,cr'I-. 

Al'tlbll coJdm G3G4S1 I Alp[nc 111d subelpinc meadows 

Bruiicaceae (mustard family) Ncwro 

Calcler's roctcress Alaslca 

Arabil codyi GIG2S1 I Unstable alpine slopes 

Brusicaceae (musisd family) ,..___.._,., roc:kc:ress Ncwro 

Alaslca 

Arabil drepanoloba G?S?' I Alpine Illus slopes 

Brasi"""""° (m.-.1family) Ncwro 

rockaess Alulca 

Artnoriil lo,,giptdw,cr,Ja1a GJ04Q I Caloareous or serpentine gm,cls and rock 

CaeyopbyU- (pink lmnily) SJ ettviocs 

sandwott 

Amlco-'111 05S1 I Alpine IIIC9dows 

A-(sunflower (amity) 

••'"'nica 

~,aharriJtgtonll omn 3 Mcadows. sucambe,iksand saee Fabaceac (pea family) -- ' milkvetcb SZSJ 

Coru crawferd/1 05 S2S3 I Well-dmncd lake and river meadows 

C)p,;,coa, (todge family) 

Crawford's -'--

Caraebwmto GSS2SJ 2 Dry sand or rodcy places 

C)puwww(""'&e family) brisdelcal' _:..., 1 

Cara 11,s,rt« 05S1 I Wet or damp calc:aROus meadows 

eypu-(sedge family) 

inland-'-

APPENDICES 
N•mbtror 

Tuoa/F•m11v/Q,mmon N••• 

C<,ru /m1/allorll ... dolla 

Cype,-(....family) 

AKNHP 

Rul' 

0$13$3 

Occumens 

l Part 

4 

Habitat 

Muddy shom, shthmd ponds. lakes. and 

river flats 

lllftedscdge 

Caro;porrycna 03G4S1 I Wet places, pvel bars 

CypcncclC (sedge family) 

Pllll'l'V'5-AC<,ru,,,.111; G4S1 I O,y IIJ"SSY alpine meadows 

Cypcr-(:s,odgc family) l'lal's..,._ 

Ca,11/~o IIUlliolo ru S3 s Alpine and sullelpine meadows 

Saoplulariaccae (ligwort family) scarlet Indian . . 

Doitglallo olmilma 0203 SI 3 Sandy soil grovel scree slopes in 1he alpine 

Primulaccat (primro,cfamily) 

Alasbn ""'•••asia 

Droba/ncma GS S2S3 II CalartOUSSCRCS 

9,ass;.,._ (mustard family) 

Whitlow-•• 

Droba kanor.askil GSIQ SI 2 Rocky alpine slopes 

BrassicacclC (mUSlatd family) 

\\'billow-• 

Drabo ob/olrgol4 G3 S? I Clay and g,av,:1 slopes. silt and sand gnr,cl 

B,usicaccec (muswd family) flats, rocky open areas. exposed hillsides, 

Whitlow..... roctsandswalcs 

Drabaponildii 03 S152 7 Alpine scree, arevcl and open shale slopes 

Bnsslcaccac (IIW.1Wd family) andmctdows 

Ponild' s Whitlow•~• 

D,abap,o,/IIJ GS S1$3 I Alpine shale cliffi, moistbws, steep 

BnlSSicaococ (mUSllld family) hillsides. limcslOnC lalus, subolpinc slopes 

tall Whi s 

Droba,,.,.., 03 S2S3 24 Windy ridge, scree slopes and cliffs 

Brassicaceac (Mustard Family) 

Rainier Whitlow--

Droba ,,e,,op,1410 03$3 27 Slony ridges and rocky alpine summiis 

Brassicaccac (Ml!Slard Family) 

Aft""'"' Wh~w-•• 

Eriophonu,, llirldi-coriJIDhlm 05S2 I Slalpinc and alpine meadows 

• scd-famiM 

C,,,.imum palwll G4S3 10 Alpine scree, lalus, gra~I slopes. and 

B....icoccoc (muswd r..,,ily) ......sows; oflffl n,vonimal bum>ws 

Pallas' wallllowcr 

Ftstw:a bmwlmo 0353 16 Exposed, d,y rocky 1Undra and scree slopes 

Poaccac: '-•• familv\ 

Ftstw:a 1,_,,is G4!MS3 9 G~J and scree slopes 

POl<CIIC 1- • ramu~, Ftsrw:a ,n/nllij/0rt1 G'IS'I' I Alpine tundr-. meadows. and scrce slopes 

p-(gn,ss family) NewlO 

Alaska 

Minlllll'flo dcw1-nsll O,S7 4 Moist, sandy places 

CaryophyDaceac (pink family) 

rode sti1Chwo11 

C ULTUR A L L A N D SC AP E REPOR T: KE NNEC OTT MI LL T OW N 
APPENDIX F 

Namber of 

AKNHP Oetumaees 

Tua/Famn..JCom•o• Naac Ruk' ia Park Habitat 

Noja, jlaiJu GS S1S2 I Shallow fresh or braclcish Wlllrr 

Najadl<,cae (naiad flllru'Jy) 

naiad 

Oxytropu hwldelsonU 

fablccae (pea family) 

G3 S2S3 24 Rldge lops, alpine tundra, heatll 

Huddelsoo's locoweed 

P/roc,J/a -'Ill · G2 S2SJ 19 Dry slopes. roadsides, sandy or gravcUy 

Hydn,phyllaceac (,._family) soils, rock OU1aOpS, ond open woods 

soft""-lia 

P-Uadnmtmond/1

Rosaccac (rose famllvl 

GSSJ 6 Meadows to ridges, subalpine to alpine 

Rvmab.,.,,.1$ 02GJ JI Sandy places on tundra, solifluction Jobes, 

Polygmareee ~healfamily) S2SJ frost boils 

Berin• Sea dock 

SalautdwJIUIM G304S3 6 Gn,vcl bots and sandy slopes 

SaJlcaaz (willow family) 

Sclcbcll's willow 

adscmdt,u ssp. 

Ofego,-,uis 

GST4TS 

S2S3 

8 Moisl gravelly and rocky alpine snes 

Swnp:eeec-urace ramny> 

small -ifraac 

SttJ/arla aJtul,,no 

Caryopbylleecac (J)ink family) 

Alaska swwort 

G3S3 24 Rocle OUlaOpS, talus sloJ)CS and monlncs in 

alpine tundra 

Swnfa-MII 

Oentianaceac __,_ (genii., family) 

O,SJ 2 Mesic Sllbelpine meadows 

r_,.,. comt<JCOlqra/1/m 

Aslenccao {sunflower famUvl 

G3QS3 JO Alpine slopes end coanc, well-drained 

substrates 

17tJa,pt -ia- B1'11SSiCICC80 (m..-.1 family) 

GJSJ I Scree slopes and 1Utfy places in alpine IUDdra 

Arc:ti<:-•ucrcss 

Trldtopl,o,'"" fllllll/Jllllf v.-. ro/Jandil 

C),pc,a.x:ee (~family) 

G?S?' 

Newro 

Alasb 

1 Moisl gnssy slopes and tundra, wlJlow and 

lldcr thlcli:ets, meadows and alone creels; 

al"'- and subal ....... 

NOre: l'lua widlanAltsu NalWII Hcrilaet Pn,pm(AKNHP)llalelllll:or<J nconsidor..t ,..._ I. AICNHP•AltsuNaftnlllctfUge,,_ O• GloNIRank. R=S-Ranlc. 

2. Somo laUnewiOAlaw llovcnotyet bomllllkod. 

APPENDICES 
APPENDIX G 

Vegetation Documentation 

for the 

Cultural Landscape Report: Kennecott Mill Town 

Kennecott National Historic Landmark 

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve 

March 1998 

By 

Michael G. Loso 

Wrangell Mountains Center 

PO Box MXY, McCarthy 

Glennallert, AK 99588 

APPENDICES 
INTRODUCTION 

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is in the process of completing a Cultural Landscape Report 

for the Kennecott town site. As part of that documentation it is necessary to characterize the vegetation, as it 

existed prior to, during, and alter the mining era. Based on fieldwork and photo interpretation conducted in the 

spring of 1998, this report delineates, describes, and discusses the vegetation of the Kennecott National 

Historic Landmark for 5 historical time periods: 

• Pre-Mining 

• 1900-1908 

• 1908-1915 

• 1915-1938 

• Existing Conditions 

STUDY AREA 

The town of Kennecott (61°28' N, 142°52' W) was built along the active lateral margin of the Kennicott Glacier, 

at an elevation of approximately 2000 feet. Slope aspect in the town stte is generally west, and slopes angles 

range from o• (flat) to 25°. Bedrock under the town site consists of greenstone with 

intrusions of porphyritic dacite (MacKevett. 1978), but soils are primarily derived from the lateral glacial 

deposits of the Kennicott Glacier. The ages and character completely submerged under ice during both the 

Early Wisconsin and the Late Wisconsin glaciations (Batem,an, 1922), with the ioe retreating 

from its maximum position 17 thousand years ago to approximately its current position by 11 .5 thousand 

years ago (Williams. 1989). Work by Denton and Karlen (19TT) in the nearby Skolai Pass region found 

evidence of two smaller glacial advances during the Holocene: one from 2900-2100 years ago, and a 

second, slightly smaller one (the Little Ice Age) from 450-138 years ago. Both of these Holocene advances 

partially covered the study area with advancing ice, and stagnant ice from the latest of these advances is still 

retreating from the lowest reaches of the study area. With the minor exceptions of fluvial deposits along 

National Creek, poorly drained peats in topographic depressions, and recently deposited mining tailings, then, 

soils in the study area have developed from well-drained tills ranging in age from 11.5 thousand years to 

virtually newborn. 

The climate of the Kennicott Valley is transitional between maritime and continental, with long, cold winters 

and short, warm growing seasons. Mean annual temperature for the Valley is -2° C and mean annual precipitation is 40 cm, distributed mostly evenly throughout the year (Pewe, 1975). Spruce-hardwood forests 

dominated by white spruce (see attached species list for scientific names of all plants discussed in text) are 

the predominant forest type on well-drained soils in this reg ion. 

Given enough time free from major disturbance, virtually all of the study area (which has little or no permafrost) would likely develop into a spruce-hardwood forest dominated by mature, open to closed stands of 

white spruce and scattered paper birch over a very dense shrub layer of Sitka alder and willows 

with an understory of ctubmosses. horsetails, and red-currants. But as the following narrative will explain, the 

Kennecott mill town has a history of major disturbances the result of advancing glaciers, floods, spruce beetle 

infestations, fire, and humans. The current vegetation of the Kennecott mill town is best understood as a 

patchwork of related vegetation types in differing stages of primary or secondary succession. 

The following is a description of each vegetation unit (polygon) in the mill town site, through each of the key 

historic periods. Vegetation units are mapped and identified on maps and were delineated to level IV of the 

Alaska Vegetation Classification (Viereck et al., 1992). 

C UL TURAL LANDSCAP E REPORT: KENN E CO T T M I LL T OWN 
APPENDIX G 

DESCRIPTIONS OF HISTORICAL VEGETATION 

Pre-Mining 

Before mining development, the land that eventually became the Kennecott mill town was recovering from a 

series of Holocene Glacial advances as described above. The Kennicott Glacier was still actively depositing 

till (a heterogeneous mixture of boulders, rocks, sands, silts, and clays with little or no organic materials) as it 

continued its retreat from the Little Ice Age Maximum. Above that active lateral moraine, the glacier's previous 

fluctuations had left a series of surficial deposits on the adjacent hillside, three of which were prominent in the 

study area: (from lowest to highest) the lateral moraine left by the 1860 glacial advance, the lateral moraine 

left by an earlier Holocene advance (2900-2100 years ago) and subsequently undercut by the Little Ice Age 

advance, and well-developed soils deposited by a mixture of colluvial processes and the late-Wisconsinan 

(over 12,000 years ago) glacial advance. 

Before 1900, all of these areas were in some successional stage of white spruce forest. Without any photos 

available of this pre-mining vegetation, and with no evidence of 19th century fires, spruce beetle outbreaks, or 

human activity in the study area, It is assumed that the age and character of the surficial deposits described 

above (and not secondary disturbances) provided the primary determinants of vegetation type. Polygons are 

delineated on the basis of unpublished surficial geology field notes for the study area (Yehle,1996). Because 

of the lack of photographic evidence, and because the characteristics (species composition and density, 

individual plant size, etc.) that distinguish early from late-serial stages of white spruce forest are subtle, it 

should be understood that the vegetation polygon boundaries are approximate. 

Before the mining era, there were probably only two exceptions to this close coupling of surficial deposits. 

First, a wet, poorly drained tQPographic depression in the northern portion of the study area had a unique 

mixture of dwarf birch and willow. Second, the immediate vicinity of National Creek from the gorge down to 

the glacier was periodically flooded, scouring the banks and maintaining an open mixture of alder and willow. 

a1) Barren 

The active lateral moraine of the Kennicott Glacier. A thin covering of barren till overlay ice, which was much 

higher than it is now, with little to no soil development. On this cold and unstable surface, there was no 

vegetation here except for the very occasional fireweed, prickly saxifrage, or yellow dryas. 

a2) 111.B.1.a. Seral Herbs 

The recently abandoned lateral moraine of the Kennicott Glacier, deposited during the Little Ice Age advance 

that peaked around 1860. By this time the moraine had been stabilizing and warming for less than 100 years, 

but significant colonization by fireweed, yellow dryas, soapberry, and willow seedlings had already taken 

place. These pioneer plants were contribuling organic matter and nitrogen to the barren soil, which probably 

qualified by this time as excessively well drained entisol: a mineral soil with weak or nopedogenic horizons. 

The organic (duff) layer was 1-2 cm deep. Successional stage within this polygon varied from still barren to 

well-developed willow thickets. 

I.A.2.e. Open White Spruce Forest 

Surficial deposits in this polygon had their origins in the 2900-2100 year old glacial advance, and soils were 

hence developed to a much greater degree than in #a2. They were well-drained entisols, but with greater 

APPENDICES 
0 

C 

r

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C 

"

>

,.. 

r 

" z 

0 

"' n 



.. 

m 

ll 

m

,, 

0 

"

-l 

;,; 

"' z Vegetation Type 

z D Balren - 8ulldlngs "' n NalicnaJ Creek 0 Ill 8 I II Sera! HJl1bi 

0 Pre-Mining Era ,q- D 1..u._e Open Whl11t Sp,\Jce F0!11si .. Re.en .. 0 I A 11 CbadWh>W Sp<UCe Fore$\ Vegetation Documentation 

3: ~ 0 II 8 2 d Open TaQ fqde,.W,i,io,/1 Shrub for Cultural Landscape Report: _,J lOO llOO Foo< 

r c::J II 8 2 e Open Tan B111:h-WIIIIOW Sruub Kennecott Townsite r - ... 

0 

~ 

2 
APPENDIX G 

quantities or organic matter and nitrogen and a generally deeper duff layer: from 2-8 cm. On the other hand, 

the Little Ice Age glacial advance tended to undercut the steeper slopes in this polygon, however, destabilizing the ground surtace and promoting small sluffs and slides. The mature spruce forest in this polygon was 

kept somewhat open by this instability and perhaps the cold microclimate generated by the nearby glacier, 

leaving room for balsam poplars, scattered paper birch, and a fairly dense understory of willow and alder. 

a4) I.A.1.j. Closed White Spruce Forest 

This area had not been disturbed by glaciation or major landslides in over 10,000 years, and a fairly dense 

white spruce forest had developed on these inceptisols: moderately well-drained soils with much higher 

organic matter, base saturation, and nutrient content than the entisols further down slope. Duff layers here 

ranged from 8·15 cm. There is no evidence of fire, spruce beetle outbreak, or other catastrophic disturbance 

to this area in the last 500 years, and the forest had developed old-grow1h characteristics: mixed age distribu· 

lion, large quantities of standing and downed dead wood in various states of decay, and low recruitment rates 

for young spruce. Paper birch was a common tree associate, and the understory was sparse to fair1y dense 

alder and scattered willow. 

11.B.2.d. Open Tall Alder-Willow Shrub 

The "riparian zone" along lower National Creek. As it winds its way through a bedrock gorge and then spills 

out onto the lateral moraine of the Kennicott Glacier, National Creek frequently flooded and changed course. 

These frequent disturbances prevented the soils from developing past the early stage of enlisols with a 

minimal duff layer, and maintained an open n:iosaic of willow, alder, and barren ground. 

a6) 11.B.2.e. Open Tall Birch-Willow Shrub 

This topographic depression in the northern portion of the study area caught surtace and subsurtace flow 

from the hillside above and developed very wet, cold, organic-rich soils. These aquepts (poorly-drained 

inceptisols) had a deep layer of undecomposed organic matter and duff over 20 cm deep, and supported 

dwart birch, shrub willows, and the very occasional white or perhaps black spruce where this polygon intergrades wtth #a4 on drier microsites. 

1900-1908 

In this first period of development, three major kinds of disturbance took place: logging to provide lumber and 

minimize fire danger; clearing for pasture, camping areas, roads and buildings. Most land was cleared by 

simple logging, and subsequently revegetated with alder, willow and eventually new tree seedlings. A large 

central area on the north bank of National Creek, however, shows a more "manicured" appearance in early 

photos. This area was logged and probably burned • a common practice of early miners to clear land and 

provide pasture for livestock (Lutz, 1956). For much of the mining era, this central area (which eventually 

became the site of Stephen Birch's house, the Manager's house, the Staff house, and the Manager's Office) 

was probably the largest area of open ground, actively maintained either by grazing or hand clearing. Most 

other lands in the study area, with the exception of building and storage areas, gardens, trails, and roads 

were simply logged and then left to re-grow in whatever mix of scrubby native vegetation took hold. 

APPENDICES 
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C 

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C 

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,. 

r 

r 

,. 

z 

0 

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n 

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"1 

ll 

,,"' 

0 

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z CJ Sarren 

i::;i 11 B 2 .a •n Tall w,uaw Snrub 

.J:r 

Op - &llcl,ngt CJ I A 2 1 WMe S11<\iU F­ 1900 -1908 

~OOld• D I 

Nal,onal m 

l A I Cloud Whila Spt1,et Forest Vegetation Documentation 

c,eek II 8 2 e Open Tall Blr;h-Wllllow ShND for Cultural Landscape Report: 

....... CJ 11 A 2 d Open TailA!dP-Wlllow Stwb 

lCO O 300 «IO - Kennecott Townsite, 1998 D Ill A1-c ~1-Shn,b 

"' n 

0 

·-< 

... 

3: 

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Vegoli3Uon Typo 
APPENDIX G 

b1) Barren 

Active lateral moraine of the Kennicott Glacier, mostly unchanged from #a1. A few more plants may hi!'{e 

colonized the still-retreating glacial moraine. Minimal disturtance by miners. • 

I1.B.2.a. Open Tall Willow Shrub 

Around this time, enough willows had colonized this recently abandoned lateral moraine and to overtop the 

seral herbs and justify a reclassification of the polygon. Compared to #a2, there is a more waist-to-chest high 

willow, a denser understory of soapberry, and fewer hertaceous perennials like fireweed and yellow dryas. 

Some of the southern portion of this unit was disturted by construction of the first road into Kennecott, and 

some of the central portion might have been buried by debris sliding downhill from the mill construction site. 

Sitka alder was uncommon in this polygon, but would have been a strong component of the vegetation that 

began re-colonizing these disturted areas. 

b3) I.A.2.e. Open White Spruce Forest 

What remained of this polygon after being diminished by logging was probably little changed from the characteristics of #a3. 

b4) I.A.1.j. Closed White Spruce Forest 

What remained of this polygon after being diminished by logging was probably little changed from the characteristics of #a4. 

b5) 11.B.2.d. Open Tall Alder-Willow Shrub 

This vegetation type, which originally occupied only a small area along National Creek, was by this time 

entering a period of rapid expansion. Most of the forested areas logged by early miners were left rather raw: 

a combination of stumps, ragged brush, and abandoned slash. Vegetation recovery was usually swift, 

dominated by alder and willow. Some scattered poplar, paper birch, and wMe spruce may have remained 

and also started in as seedlings. Areas adjacent to road, building, and other construction were probably more 

heavily disturbed and alder returned more vigorously than willow on these sites, some of which remained 

barren for several years. Even the original, "natural" vegetation of this type, in National Creek, was probably 

quite disturbed by water diversions, tailings and gravel deposition, and the like. 

b6) 11.B.2.e.Open Tall Birch-Willow Shrub 

No change from #a6. 

b7) I11.A.2.c. Bluejoint-Shrub 

This was probably the very first area cleared in Kennecott, even prior to the logging of polygon #b5. The 

original clearing probably included both logging and burning, and for many years this area contained the most 

maintained vegetation cover in the area. Al least one corral is visible in old photographs of this area and 

grazing was probably one way of maintaining the relatively open character of this meadow. After the initial 

burning, increases of bluejoint grass and fireweed would be expected because (in addition to favoring the 

enhanced light levels), both species reproduce by rhizomes and rapidly invade burned areas of boreal forests 

APPEN D ICES 
(Dymess et al., 1986). No photos show it appearing completely grassy, and it is likely that fireweed, wild rose, 

raspberry, red currant, alder, and willow shared the site with bluejoint. 

1908-1915 

By 1908, logging opened a great deal more land, and the mill is surrounded by a large area in various stages 

of secondary succession. At the same time, primary succession is continuing on the younger moraines of the 

glacier margin. Both of these processes are causing a dramatic overall increase in the amount of willow and 

alder in the study area, and the total area of spruce forest is continually diminishing. The first significant 

amounts of mining tailings are evident in the mill town, appearing to the south and north of the mill building. 

These tailings provide additional areas for succession, but tailings generally lack the very fine silts and clays 

common in glacial till and are consequently slower to develop a significant vegetative cover. 

c1) 111.B.1.a. Seral Herbs 

Around this time, enough herbaceous perennials had colonized the lateral moraine of the Kennicott Glacier to 

justify reclassifying this polygon. Although many barren areas remain, it is clear from old photos that this 

polygon had begun to stabilize and fireweed, yellow dryas, and dwarf willows had all begun to occupy these 

soils in greater number. In addition, the size of this polygon had by this time grown substantially as completion 

of the railroad, further road construction, and the ongoing growth of the mill and its associated tailings created 

large new areas of essentially barren soil that entered directly into primary succession. Some of these areas 

were kept barren on purpose, especially near roads, buildings, and the railroad tracks; other areas were kept 

barren as an indirect consequence of severe soil disturbance. As a consequence, plant colonization was 

quicker and diversity higher near roads, the mill, and new building site than they were on the moraines 

undisturbed by humans. Weeds such as dandelion, wormwood, and fireweed were probably common. 

c2) I1.B.2.a. Open Tall Willow Shrub 

Diminished in area from #b2 by ongoing construction, and with a greater density of willow, but otherwise little 

changed. 

c3) I.A.2.e. Open White Spruce Forest 

Much diminished in area from #b3 by ongoing logging, but l ittle changed where the original vegetation re• 

mained. 

c4) I.A.1 .j. Closed White Spruce Forest 

Diminished in area from #b4 by ongoing logging (including the construction of the second tramway}, but little 

changed where the original vegetation remained. 

c5) 11.8.2.d. Open Tall Alder-Willow Shrub 

This polygon was still increasing in area as ·development of the mill town continued. By this time, lumber was 

being brought to the site by rail and most logging activities were undertaken to clear land for new building 

sites, or minimize fire danger. As some areas were being logged for the first time, other areas were over a 

decade into their recovery with signtticant re-growth of poplar and white spruce, leaving this large area was a 

heterogeneous mix of dense shrub thickets, almost barren ground, and everything in between. Many of the 

CU L TURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT : KENNECOTT MIL LTOWN 
• 

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Vegot.aUon Type 

I A l) Closed While Spruce Forest 

1A 2 e Open Whfle Sp1uce Forest 

11 82 1 Open Tall w ,now Shrub 1908 - 1915 

II 8.2 d 0,,.., Tau Alde1-W11low Sh11Jb 

11 8 2. e Open Tell l!irch•Wlllow Shrub Vegetation Oocumentatlon 

IllA 2. c Bluejo,nl-Shrub for Cultural Landscape Report: 

Ill 8 I a Semi HeltlS J> Kennecott Townslte, 1998 

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soils in this area were by this time heavily disturbed, and the overall proportion of alder in this area had 

increased. 

c6) 11.8.2.e. Open Tall Birch-Willow Shrub 

No change from #b6. 

c7) II1.A.2.c. Bluejoint-Shrub 

The construction of several new buildings, boardwalks, and a large garden in this area diminished the overall 

area extent of the vegetation, but probably did little to alter its essential character. Notably, the buildings 

constructed here in this period and subsequently were the homes and offices of the town's upper classes. In 

addition to the limited evidence provided by early photos, this fact supports the notion that this area was 

•groomed" more than most other areas in the town. Sitting on the north bank of National Creek, with adjacent 

corrals for horses and quite probably flower gardens planted near the buildings, this ' meadow" was the 

pastoral home of the manager, higher staff, and eventually Stephen Birch. 

cB) Gardens 

This is mapped as an early garden, but because this area was buried under the tailings deposits of the 

Consolidated Wrangells Mining Company, there is currently no evidence of what was grown here. 

1915-1938 

In this period, the heyday of the Kennecott mines, removal of vegetation reaches its most extreme. Much of 

the original vegetation in the study area has been destroyed, whether by logging, burning, road construction, 

or burial under the rapidly growing tailings piles. Even as this activity takes place, however, the processes of 

primary and secondary succession are taking place. Most of the study area is slowly recovering from some 

form of disturbance by growing an increasingly dense cover of herbs, shrubs, and tree seedlings. Gardens 

are tended, roadsides, trails, and the railroad are kept clear, and the central open area is still maintained. The 

majority of land cleared for mining activities has however, become an area covered with high shrubs, spruce 

stumps, slash, and mining debris. 

d1) 111.B.1.a. Sera! Herbs 

In the lower area of this polygon, the Kennicott Glacier was continuing its rapid retreat, and the slow invasion 

of perennial herbaceous plants and perhaps willow was continuing. Higher up, ongoing development and 

industrial activity was creating new barren land at the same time that older disturbed 

areas were becoming overgrown by native pioneer species. During this period, one important change was 

the drastic increase in the area covered by mining tailings, particularly below the leaching plant and to either 

side of National Creek. These areas, by virtue of continual disturbance and the extremely poor suitability of 

tailings for vegetation, remained virtually barren for many years (in some areas, up to the 1990s). 

d2) I1.8.2.a. Open Tall Willow Shrub 

Little change from #c2 with the probably exception of sporadic and small-scale disturbances by human 

activity. 

CULTURA L LANDSCAPE REPORT : K E NN E CO T T MILL TOWN 
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Gardens - 11.8.2J1 Opo~ T1all Wdlow Shrub Vegetation Documentation 

••et II 8 2 d ()per, T1tll Alcler-w,now Shrub oo 

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o o00 eoo for Cultural Landscape Report: II 8 2 e Open TI11l BIIGh"WJIIOw Sh1ub 

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d3) I.A.2.e. Open White Spruce Forest 

Much diminished in area from #c3 by ongoing logging, but little changed where the original vegetation remained. There may have been scattered selective cutting of white spruce in these areas by this time. 

d4) I.A.1.j. Closed White Spruce Forest 

Logging to clear land, but little changed where the original vegetation remained. At the margins of 

this mature spruce forest, adjacent to logged areas, old photographs show that large trees were suffering 

relatively heavy mortality, due largely perhaps to their increased exposure to wind and snow-loading. The 

edges of this polygon were thus growing more "ragged" over time. 

d5) 11.B.2.d.Open Tall Alder-Willow Shrub 

The simultaneous processes of logging, soil disturbance, and re-growth continued in this area. At this point in 

time, the northern part of this unit (near the powder shack) was probably characterized by chest-high vegetation with lots of stumps scattered in the brush. The rest of the unit was probably getting very overgrown 

(maybe even closed) with alder, tall, tree-like willow, and ramets (clonal clumps) of poplar gaining height. 

d6) 11.B.2.e.Open Tall Birch-Willow Shrub 

No change from #c6. 

d7) 11I.A.2.c. Bluejoint-Shrub 

No change from #c7, except for the addition of Stephen Birch's house at the upper (eastern) edge of this 

polygon. 

d8) Gardens 

Numerous gardens were now scattered around the mill town during this period, with the largest garden now 

located along the northern bank of upper National Creek. One photo from this period shows a cow 

in a cow-pen somewhere near the old dairy barn, in the southwestern portion of the study area. Further 

research was unable to determine the exact location of this pen. 

d9) I1.B.1.d. Closed Tall Alder-Willow Shrub 

By this time, several parts of the "open tall alder-willow shrub" polygon (#d5) probably had enough cover to 

warrant the designation "closed." Only one area, down by the southern bank of lower National Creek, alders 

and willow had grown in quite densely and numerous whtte spruce seedlings were notable in the understory. 

Existing Conditions 

There is more total vegetation cover today than at any time since the start of the mining era. This is due 

primarily to the ongoing retreat of the Kennicott Glacier and the consequent colonization of its abandoned 

lateral moraines. Virtually all of the land cleared during the mining era has revegetated to some degree, and 

most roadways and trails have either disappeared or become narrow paths through a tunnel of encroaching 

alder and willow. With the exception of privately-owned property (the Kennicott Glacier Lodge, Silk Stocking 

CULTURAL LANDSCAP E REPOR T : KENN E CO TT M ILLTOWN 
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I A 1J CIOsed White Spru.,. Forut 

Gatdan Vegetatlc>n II 8 1d Closed Tall Aldat-Wlllow Shrub Documentation 

11;0 a JOO eoo F.., II B 2d Open Tell Alder-WIiiow S~rub for Cultural l..andscape Report: 

It 8 2 e Open Tall Blrcll-Wlllow Shl1lb Kennec:ott Townsite, 1998 » 

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Row cabins, etc.) virtually all of the vegetation in Kennecott is now unmaintained. The old gardens are grown 

over, the central open area has been obliterated by encroaching brush and the tailings deposits of the Consolidated Wrangells Mining Company, and even the old railroad cooridor (now the main road through town) is 

sprouting an occasional shrub or bush. 

Just as it was before the miners ever arrived, virtually all of the vegetation is a seral stage of white spruce 

forest. Boundaries between these various seral stages are in some cases quite vague, leaving the casual 

observer with a general impression of shrubbiness. Small patches of emerging spruce, poplar, and birch 

crown dense alders and willows, and little of the site's complicated history is readily apparent. One change is 

obvious, however. The total proportion of vegetated land in early to middle succession is much higher than it 

was a hundred years ago, and the proportion of late successional (mature) white spruce forest is much 

reduced. An ongoing spruce beetle outbreak that began in 1990 has killed many mature spruce in these latter 

areas and will probably contribute to an even further reduction in the total area of mature forest in the foreseeable future. 

e1) 111.B.1 .a. Seral Herbs 

The colonization of this now stabilized lateral moraine by fireweed, yellow dryas, and now a significant 

component of willow and poplar in some areas continues. Much barren ground remains, but as organic 

material and seed sources in this area increase, vegetation growth should be expected to accelerate in this 

area. Tailings piles remain very resistant to colonization, however, and will probably take many decades to 

revegetate to any significant degree. This is due largely to the absenoe of fine-groinod matorial in mining 

tailings, with consequently poor water retention and nutrient availability. 

e2) 11.8.2.a. Open Tall Willow Shrub 

Head-high and taller willows are now common in this area, and many spruce and poplar saplings have begun 

to overtop the willows. This area will soon be an open white spruce forest. 

e3) I.A.2.e. Open White Spruce Forest 

With some evidence of selective logging by miners and probably modem residents, the mature spruce 

remaining in this forest, which was quite open even before the mining era, is very reduced. Nonetheless, 

many old spruce remain in the small remaining area of this polygon and there is moderate recruitment by 

young sp11.1ce and paper birch. 

e4) I.A.1.j. Closed White Spruce Forest 

That any old-growth forest remains so close to the Kennecott town site is perhaps surprising. The mature 

white spruce forest that remains in the study area is a testament to the Kennecott Mines' reliance on outside 

supplies of wood and fuel. The near future for this forest is grim, however. On average, 40% of the mature 

spruce in this polygon have been killed by a spruce beetle outbreak that began in 1990, and more are still 

being killed each year (though the outbreak seems to be slowing). Furthermore, recruitment of young spruce 

in these beetle-killed areas is very low, and a recent study predicted that the current recruitment rate is 

insufficient to balance the continuing mortality of mature trees (Loso, 1998). Even in the absence of selective 

logging by focal residents (which occurs sporadically), it is likely that the forest in this polygon will become 

much more open over the next few decades, and that without a ground-clearing disturbance such as fire, the 

recruitment of new spruce to fill these gaps will be slow, if it occurs at all. Under this scenario, the density of 

alder and willow is expected to grow. 

CULTURA L LANO SCAPE R E PORT : KENNECO TT MILL TOWN 
APPENDIXG 

e5) 11.B.2.d.Open Tall Alder-Willow Shrub 

With a few exceptions where the activities of current residents or visitors are disturbing the vegetation, this 

large heterogeneous. polygon of brush and emerging trees is continuing its process of seoondary succession. 

Poplar, tall willows, and white spruce are slowly turning some of this area into a young forest, but most of this 

polygon is revegetating more slowly than the rest of what was #d5, which is now categorized as "closed tall 

alder-willow shrub" (#e9). The reason for this slight difference in regrowth is not known. The area along 

National Creek has been flooded several times, as in the past, and remains in a very open stage much like it 

did before the commencement of mining operations in the ear1y century. 

e6) 11.B.2.e. Open Tall Birch-Willow Shrub 

No change from #d6. 

e7 Gone 

As a result of seoondlary succession by alder and willow and more directly because of tailing deposition by the 

Consolidated Wrangells Mining Company, nothing remains of the historic "meadow" that occupied the central 

portion of the town site. 

e8) Gardens 

Rhubarb and chives are known to still grow in the remnants of the largest garden, and further fieldwork this 

summer may provide evidence of the hardy crops that have survived the ensuing decades of neglect. 

e9) 11.B.1.d. Closed Tall Alder-Willow Shrub 

Much of what was fo:rmer1y "open tall alder-willow shrub" has now filled in with enough alder, tall willow, 

spruce, birch, and poplar to qualify as "closed." Some of the area is almost young forest. This closed and 

almost impenetrable thicket is a dominant vegetation type in the vicinity of many historic buildings now. 

APPENDICES 
APPENDIX H 

Site History 

Kennecott Mine Sites 

By Logan Hovis 

Introduction 

The Kennecott mines are located on Bonanza Ridge, high above the mill town, and several thousand 

feet above the Kennicott Glacier. The structural complex associated with these mines were industrial communities in their own right, distinct from the mill town below. During the winter months, the extreme cold, heavy 

snow, and high winds frequently isolated these camps. Wagon roads and trails quickly disappeared in the 

snow and high winds curtailed operation of the aerial tramway. In response to these condijions, the camps 

were became self-supporting to the degree possible, providing housing for the miners and support facilities to 

advance the underground works. 

Over the life of the operation at Kennecott four principal underground mines were developed, each 

with its associated surface camp: the Bonanza, Jumbo, Mother Lode, and Erie mines.' The locations of the 

camps were somewhat precarious to say the least, built on steep mountain slopes and in avalanche paths. 

Access to the ore in such a hostile mountain environment forced site selections that were usually the lesser of 

several evils. All four major camps were adjacent to the greenstone-limestone contact, which defined the 

locations of the ore. Once constructed, securing the structures and protecting them from extreme weather 

became a basic part of the operation. For example buildings were cabled to the rock, snow fences and 

avalanch!3 breakers were placed to direct the flow of snow between the buildings and around structures. In 

other cases, such as the aerial tramways, ongoing maintenance included the seasonal need to reconstruct 

towers and restring cable damaged by wind and snow. 

Two surface operations were also established as satellites of the Bonanza camp. The Glacier Mine 

and the Slide ore body were summer operations on the west and east sides of the Bonanza outcrop respectively. The Glacier Mine had a few, smaller crew shacks erected on the glacier. This unusual mine, which 

recovered high-grade ore from the ice of the glacier, was connected to and supported from the Bonanza Mine 

camp. The Slide ore body was located on the slope below the Bonanza camp. 

Both the Slide and Glacier operations were connected to the larger operations by aerial tramways. A 

short stub tramway fed ore from the Slide up to the Bonanza loading terminal. The Glacier was doubly 

connected with ore going down slope to join with the Jumbo tramway at the Angle Station and a short tramway running up from the Glacier to the Bonanza to transport men and supplies. 

' The Mother Lode Mine is not described in detail in this report because ii remains private property within the boundaries 

of the NHL. tt should be noted however, that the Mother Lode Mine was historically an important ore body and integral to 

the operations at Kennecott during the historicperiod. 

APPENDICES 
The relative significance of the mines can be crudely expressed in terms of total production figures.• 

Mine Ton of Ore Tons of Copper 

Bonanza 1,523,526 194,922.9 

Jumbo 1,505,768 215,021.0 

Mother Lode 1,340,162 166,038.3 

Glacier 163,028 3,526.3 

Erie 56,941 8,585.5 

Slide Ore 36,484 3,481.4 

Totals 4,625,909 591,535.4 

These figures provide a somewhat distorted view when they are used to compare the various mine 

camps. Ore from the Mother Lode Mine was raised through the Bonanza Mine for transport to the mill, as was 

the ore from the Slide deposit. In addition, the Glacier mine was in part a satellite of the Bonanza even though 

it was connected to the mill by a tramway. 

Over the life of the Kennecott operations, the Bonanza and the Jumbo camps were regularly occupied until the entire operation closed. The Bonanza, Mother Lode and Jumbo mines served by these camps 

operated continuously once they went into production. The other camps operated for shorter periods of time 

or intermittently as indicated below. 

Mine Years of Operation 

Bonanza 1911 -1938 

Jumbo 1913-1938 

Slide Ore 1913 - 1916 

Mother Lode 1914 - 1938 

Erie 1916 - 1918, 1924 - 31 , 

&1937 - 38 

Glacier 1920-1928 

Within broad limits and making some allowances for non-production exploration and supply operations at the Erie, the camps associated with these mines can be assumed to have operated on similar schedules.' 

Collectively, these mine camps were the contact points between the production and processing 

functions at Kennecott. Broken ore was raised to the surface at the mine camps and transferred to aerial 

tramways for transportation to the mill for concentration and shipment to the smelters and wo~d markets. 

They also reflected over time, changing corporate realtties and the progress of the mining operations. 

The importance of any single mine camp reflected the wealth of the mine it served and the development sequence of the underground workings. The Bonanza camp was first prominent as the readily accessible outcrop of ore was exploited and the outcrop explored at depth. The Jumbo camp to the west of the 

Bonanza supported the exploration and mining of a separate and equally rich ore body. To the east, across 

''Kennecott Copper Corporation, Kennecott Mines, Total Ore Production, 1911 to Date (1938)," NPS/AKSO files. 

3 Ibid. All Kennecott mines were closed 1933-34. The date for when the Mother Lode first shipped is from Attred H. 

Brooks, 'The Alaskan Mining Industry in 1914." in Mjneral Aes911rces ot Alaska· Report on Progress of fnyestjgat;ons i 

.ll!li, US Geological Survey Bulletin 622 (Washington: USGPO, 1915), p. 44. Kennecott production figures for the Mother 

Lode doe not start until acquisition in 1919. 

C U LTU RAL LA N DS C A PE REPORT: K E NNE C OTT MILL TO W N 
APPENDIX H 

the ridge in the McCarthy Creek drainage the Mother Lode camp supported the efforts of the Mother Lode 

Copper Mining Co., a separate and competing entity until 1919. 

Once Kennecott acquired the Mother Lode, the camp was little used and ore from the Mother Lode 

was transported underground to the Bonanza where it was raised to the surface. The Erie camp was estalr 

lished to support the exploration of the Erie ore body. Once it was found to be smaller than hoped, the Erie 

camp served as a supply point for further explorations deep in the mountain. Over time, the various mines 

were connected underground allowing options in the servicing of the mines and the transportation of ore. At 

the end, it was possible to enter the mines at the Erie Mine overlooking the Root Glacier, pass through the 

Jumbo, Bonanza, and Mother Lode mines, and exit in Independence Gulch overlooking McCarthy Creek. 

The locations of the mine sites are fixed in geological realities and the camps to serve these mines 

were located as close as reasonably possible. The topographical extremes of Bonanza Ridge also imposed 

restraints on the location and configuration of the camps. Steep slopes, slide paths, and snow and ice fields 

did not prevent construction in a given area so much as they demanded engineering solutions and an acceptance of risk which, while common at the time, would not be accepted today. 

At the present time, all the mines are in various states of collapse: the Erie bunkhouse is probably the 

most intact structure and the Mother Lode camp the most ruined of all. But all of these mine camps contain a 

wide variety of structures and artifacts to help define the nature of life in the Kennecott mines. All are more or 

less accessible to the general public and there is evidence of casual pillering, looting and vandalism. The 

harsh environment is a mixed blessing. Long winters produce damage from high winds, avalanches and snow 

loads; the extreme cold freezes much in place for months on end and arrests the processes of decay. 

APPENDICES 
Bonanza Mine 

The Bonanza Mine camp is situated on an east-facing slope at the head of Bonanza Creek immediately below the Bonanza ore outcrop. The stte is at approximately 6,000 feet elevation and is about three 

miles from the railhead and the mill site. Snow is on the ground nine months out of the year and in the air all 

year round. The Bonanza Mine was the first camp established on Bonanza Ridge. The outcropping of 

chalcocite and copper carbonate, both rich ores of copper, was first located in 1900. The camp was established sometime thereafter but was little developed until after 1906 when title to the mines had been clarified 

through litigation.• 

Development work on the site prior to the end of the 1907 season included two crosscut tunnels 

driven into the ore one above the other. The lower tunnel started slightly above a "L"-shaped cabin that may 

have been constructed several years earlier. The cabin was described as the "miners lodgings• on company 

maps. The utilttarian nature of the structure is evident in its location immediately adjacent to the waste rock 

dump from the lower tunnel.' 

Photographic evidence suggests the building was modified and expanded on several occasions to 

accommodate more miners. More important, early photographs show a level cut made in the hillside running 

south from the lower tunnel for approximately 200 feet. This cut carried the track from the mine to the waste 

dump. This linear feature appears on the basis of subsequent photography to define the main axis of all 

subsequent development on the site. The aerial tramway loading station was erected at the south end of the 

c,ut and shops at the north end.8 

Constructing the Bonanza camp on a steep slope required the excavation of terraces and the erection 

of wood cribbed retaining walls to produce building platforms. Mine buildings were further secured to the 

• Considerable confusion and controversy persists about the discovery and early history of the Kennecott mines. While 

inter,esting, these questions are not germane to the Guttural Landscape. Litigation consolidated control in the hands of 

Stephen Birch and the Alaska Syndicate prior to major investment and construction activities.. Versions of the discovery 

and initial ownership of the mines are discussed in Robert Steams, "Alaska's Kennecott Copper and the Kennecott 

Copper Corporation," Alaska Joumsl 5 (1975): 130 - 139; see also Melody Webb Graumann, "Big Business in Alaska: The 

Kennecott Mines, 1898 - 1938," Anthropology and Historic Preservation, Cooperative Park Studies Unit, University of 

Alaska, Fairbanks, Occasional Paper #1, March 19TT; see also her •Kennecott:Alaskan Origins of a Copper Empire, 

1900-1 938," Western Historical Qusrterly9,2 (April 1978): 197-211. 

As the first mine to be brought inlo production, the Bonanza·s name dominated the entire Kennecott operation for several 

years. For example, the facilities along National Creek were initially included as one in the same in discussions of the 

Bonanza Mine and later as the Bonanza-Kennecott Mine. Once the Jumbo Mine became important contributor to 

production, the name distinction between the mill town and the various mines became common, even assumed, in the 

llteralure. 

' Fred H. Moffit and A.G.Maddren," The Mineral Resources of the Kotsina and Chitins Valleys, Copper river Region" in 

mineral resources of Alaska: Report on Progress of lnvestigationsin 1907, US Geological Survey bulletin 520 (Washington: USGPO, 1908), pp, 163-164; and Fred H. Moffit and Stephen R. Capps, Geology and Mineral Resources of the 

Nizins District, Alaska, USGS Bulletin 448 (Washington: USGPO, 1911), p. 87; see also "Bonanza Surface Plant & 

Underground Work," Kennecott Mines Map Inventory, Drawer 40, Roll 6, n.d. (M-59), copy in NPS/AKSO files. 

• Two ea~y views of the cabin and the side hill cut are provided by USGS geologists; see USGS Photographic Library, 

Capps, S. R. # 119 and Moll~, F. H. # 364. A photograph taken approximately 5 years later shows the cut covered with a 

snow shed connecting the tunnel w~h the top of the tramway loading station. New buildings, presumably bunkhouses and 

shops are erected above and below the snow shed; Alaska Mining photo #141 34 [circa. 1912), Photographic Archives, 

Museum of History and Industry, Historical Society of Seattle and King County, Seattle, Washington. 

CULTURAL LANDS CA P E REPOR T: KENNECOT T MILL T OWN 
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mountainside with steel cables. Most major structures at the mine were positions at a similar elevation with 

the line of buildings following the arc of the cirque. 

Early access to the mine was by trail. In 1908, the wagon road to the mine was widened and graded 

to permit winter sledding of supplies. Construction of the aerial tramway connecting the Bonanza mine with 

the railway at National Creek started in 1908 and was completed in 1909. It started operation in August that 

year. The tramway provided the necessary connection to place the mine in production once the railway 

arrived at Kennecott.' 

In addition to the early cabin and the tram terminus, other construction was underway or completed 

by 1912, after regular production began. New buildings included a two-story, "T"· shaped bunkhouse located 

below the snow shed and near the original cabin. A second significant structure was erected at the north end 

of the snow shed containing a blacksmith shop, compressor room, and heating plant. In 1911 , the ore bins 

and loading terminal were enlarged to increase capacity.• 

Mining operations proceeded underground and on the surface. In 1912, a larger donkey engine pulled 

itself up the mountain and was used to run scrappers mining the Slide ore. This ore was located down slope 

from the Bonanza outcrop and contained a large amount of loose chalcocite and other copper ores. The 

donkey engine was positioned above the snow shed on a small platform excavated into the hillside. The 

cables ran through or over the shed. How the ore was raised to the tramway-loading terminal is not immediately obvious in the photograph although a stub tramway was constructed in 1917 to connect the slide ore 

deposit with the terminal.• Workers at the slide area, a seasonal activity, may have been housed at the 

Bonanza or in tents closer to the their work.

10 

In early 1913, the tramway and compressor plant was destroyed by a snow slide and fire, forcing the 

Bonanza mine to shut down. By March, the company was erecting a new compressor building at the mouth or 

the mine and was repairing the tramway damaged by the slide." Additions to the camp around this time 

include changes to the ore bins with a new tunnel connecting the underground workings directly to the loading 

terminal. Addmonal housing-a three-story bunkhouse-and a privy block were constructed south of the 

loading terminal and connected to it by a covered walkway. 

Major modifications in 1916 and 1917 included significant changes to the organization of the mine 

7 Fred H. Mott~. •Mining in the Kotsina-Chitina, Chistochina, and Valdez Creek Regions,• in Mineral Resources of Alaska: 

Report on Progress of Investigations In 1908, US Geological Suivey Bulletin 379 (Washington: USGPO, 1909), pp. t53-

154; Fred H. Moffit, "Mining in the Chitina District,"in Mineral Resources of Alaska· Report on progress of lnyestigatjons io 

1l!Q9. US Geological Suivey Bulletin 442 (Washington: USGPO, 1910), pp. 160; and "Bonanza Copper Mines; Northwest 

Mining Journal 7:1 (Janua,y 1909): 7. 

• See Alaska Mining photo #141 34 [circa. 1912), Photographic Archives, Museum of Histo,y and lndust,y, Historical 

Society of Seattle and King County. Dating is based on the presence of the large donkey engine used to raise Slide ore to 

the snow shed level. This equipment did not arrive on site until 1912; see "Activity at Kennecott Mine and McCarthy," Ille 

Chitina Leader 2"" year, No. 21 (1 March 1912); 1. For tram terminal expansion see Kennecott Mines Company [drawing], 

"Mine Ore Bin and Loading Terminal, Cross Section and Side Elevation, 1911 Installation," NPS/AKSO files. 

• Fred H. Moffit, "Mining In Chitina Valley." in Mineral Resources of Alaska· Report on progress of lnvestjgaljons io 1912, 

US Geological Suivey Bulletin 542 (Washington: USGPO, 1913), p. 84; "Acti~ at Kennecott Mine and McCarthy," lb§ 

Chijjna Leader 2"' year, No. 21 (1 March 1912); 1; "Bonanza Surface Plant ...," op. cit.;and Kennecott Copper Corporation, "East Slide Tram Terminal," Drawing No. T-7, July 6, 1917. 

"Asmall tent camp immediately below the Bonanza Mine was recorded during the 1997 existing condttions suivey. 

"Alfred H. Brooks, "The Alaskan Mining lndust,y in 1913," in Mjneral Resources of Alaska· Report on Progress of 

lnyestigatjons io 1913, us Geological Suivey Bulletin 592 (Washington: USGPO, 1914), pp. 60-61; and "Adivity in 

Copper Mining; The Chjlina Leader 3,22 (18 Ma.rch 1913); 1. 

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE R E PORT : KEN NECOTT MILL TOWN 
APPENDIX H 

site. In 1916, a newly constructed four-story bunkhouse burned." In 1917, a site was cleared to build a new 

bunkhouse. When completed later that year, the combination bunkhouse and mess hall also seived as a 

recreation and amusement hall. 13 

As new structures appeared, others disappeared. The snow shed connecting the miners' lodgings 

wtth the loading terminal was gone as were the original miners lodgings and the 'T shaped bunkhouse. The 

snow shed still connected the buildings but now they went from the vicinity of the heating plant to the lower 

levels of the tramway loading terminal as well as from the upper level of the terminal to the earlier three story 

bunkhouse to the south. 

By 1926, the mine stte was essentially as today's ruins suggest. Moving from north to south, the main 

structures include the Steel Shop at the original mine portal and the Transformer House located above the 

portal. To the east is the one-story frame Heating Plant. The four-story Bunkhouse, Messhall and Amusement 

Hall dominate the north end of the site. The center of the site is dominated by the Ore Bins and tramwayloading terminal. Further to the south are the older three-story frame bunkhouse and the privies. Show sheds 

still connected the major elements of the site." 

The new four-story bunkhouse followed designed developed for the major bunkhouses in the mill 

town. As a group they were three to four stories tall with shed-roofed dormers. Floor plans were also similar 

with the buildings severing a variety of ends: cooking, dining, recreation, and change rooms for washing and 

drying clothes. Aesthetic details such as the red with white trim paint scheme were also employed in this last 

major construction at the Bonanza mine. 

While no new signtticant structures were added to the camp after 1918, smaller modifications to the 

physical plant were probably the norm. Increases in the capacity of the tramway in 1918 may have been 

reflected in changes to the ore bins and the loading siaiion. During periods of construction, small tent cities 

came and went as necessary. Finally, minor modifications to the buildings occurred almost up until the end. In 

1936, the Company reported enlarging the cook's quarters by building another room in the Bonanza Bunkhouse." 

During peak production, approximately 72 men worked the Bonanza mine, most of whom were 

undoubtedly housed at the Bonanza camp. Another 146 worked the Mother Lode that was supplied through 

the Bonanza mine. In all, well over 200 men worked and lived in the camp at its height.•• By 1924 the Bonanza camp supplied compressed air for the connected mines." When finally closed, the Bonanza incline 

"The loss of this structure and the subsequent housing shortage it created may have contributed to tensions among the 

workeis, and the mineis' strike the following year 

,. Graumann. op. cit., p. 27; Alaska Terr~orial Mine Inspector, Report ofthe Territorial Mine Inspector to the Governor of 

Alaska for the Year 1917; Kennecott Copper Corporation, and ThirdAnnual Report ofthe Kennecott Copper Corporation 

for the Year ended December 31, 1917. 

" Kennecott Copper Corporation, "Fire Insurance Map, Bonanza Mine; Drawing No. G-5. March 14, 1922 updated to 

November 20, 1926. 

" Kennecott Copper Corporation. Fourth Annual Report ofthe Kennecott Copper Corporation for the Year Ended December 31, 1918, p. 8; photographic evidence of the housing of construction workers in tents may be found in Rasmusen 

Library, UAF, Clara Rust Colleclion, 67-11 0-401N, and WAST, Kennecott Kids Collection, Jean Girad photographs; 

Kennecott Copper Corporation, "Annual Report for 1936, Alaska Mine," p. 12. 

" Employment figures taken from "General Points of Interest on the Kennecott & Mother Lode Mines, Kennecott, Alaska, 

July 15, 1924,"p. 1, NPS/AKSO files. 

""Outline of Geology and Mining MethOds of Kennecott Mines, Kennecott Copper Corporation, Kennecott, Alaska, (c. 

1924], p. 10, NPS/AKSO files. 

APPENDICES 
giving access to the mine extended downward from the 150 foot level where the camp was located to the 

1250 foot level, a depth of 1,100 feet. At that depth a crosscut connected the Bonanza Mine with the Mother 

Lode where the incline went down through the production and exploration levels to 2800 foot level, 2, 650 feet 

below the Bonanza camp.•• 

Production continued in the Bonanza Mine until the end of October 1938; the last shipment of ore left 

on October 31". Salvage operations continued until November 10"'. The camp was permanently abandoned 

on December 23'°.1

• Sometime around the end of November the last man left the Bonanza Mine. 

The camp remained relatively undisturbed until the 19505 when the Consolidate Wrangell Mining 

Company attempted to recover surtace ores from the Bonanza basin. By this time, the surtace title had 

passed from Kennecott Corporation to Alaska interests. Reportedly, to reduce personal liability by preventing 

people from occupying the bunkhouse at the mine, the building was set fire and destroyed. The fire also 

destroyed the power plant and the snow shed at the north end of the camp. Additional damage to the site 

came from exposure to the elements overtime. 

Consolidated Wrangell Mining Company built roads into the Bonanza basin in 1964, and erected a 

small camp including a small bunkhouse and copper recovery plant at the 4,000 foot level. the following year, 

1965. The process was not a success and the camp and plant was abandoned in favor of an operation based 

near the Kennecott concentrator. This operation closed in 1967. The camp in the Bonanza basin was eventually destroyed by a snow slide.20 

Sixty years after Kennecott Copper walked away from the site, the Bonanza camp is still a complex 

site, despite the ravages of fire and time. Little is as nwas; almost every building is in some degree of collapse. The tramway terminal and loading station are solidly built and relative intact. The roof is collapsed on 

the blacksmith shop bu1 the walls are still up and many small tools remain inside. The transformer building is 

sound even though its metal skin has been stripped away. The ashes of the bunkhouse and power plant are 

mixed with twisted metal girders, the remains of the boilers and rusting bed frames. Today, the Bonanza Mine 

is visited frequently by those willing to hike up the mountain. While many appreciate the site for nself, others 

take the opportunity to loot this most accessible of all the Kennecott mines. 

" Kennecott Copper Corporation, "Projection Showing Bonanza-Mother Lode Vein in Relation to Various Ore Bodie,s," 

copied 1/30/66, Kennecott Mines Map Inventory, Drawer 40, Roll C. There were at least eleven levels in the Bonanza 

mine and thirteen in the Bonanza-Mother Lode.There were also numerous sub-levels. As to the spacing between levels, 

"Formerly (prior to c. 1924] levels were driven each hundred feet, this distance was increased to 200 feet, which was 

found to be too great, and 150 feet has been accepted as the best distance, all things considered." "OuUine of Geology 

and Mining Methods." op. cit., p. 7. 

"W. A. Ri<:helsen to E. T. Stannard, February 17, 1939, copy in NPS/AKSO. 

'°Telephone interview with Howard Knutson, a partner in Consolidated Wrangell Mining Co., 19 October 95, Logan Hovis, 

NPS/AKSO. 

CULTURAL LANOSCAPE REPORT : KENNECOTT MI LL TOWN 
APPENDIX H 

Jumbo Mine 

The Jumbo Mine was the second ore body located on Bonanza Ridge. Like the Bonanza, it was 

located in 1900, and by the same party. And, like the Bonanza the Alaska·Syndicate did not develop it to any 

degree until after the consolidation of ownership of the mines in 1906. As of 1907, the ore body was explored 

by two short, 12-foot long tunnels in the south face of the ridge towering above the glacier at the head of 

Jumbo Creek.2' 

Once the Bonanza mine was established and shipping, attention was extended to the Jumbo where 

"a considerabfe body of ore was in sight at the surface before any work was done."" A tramway was pur• 

chased and shipped to Alaska in 1911. Work proceeded slowly, and the tramway was not completed until 

1915. None-the-less, the Jumbo managed to ship limned quantities of ore by hauling it to the mill in wagons.23 

The location and construction of the Jumbo camp presented a number of problems. The only space 

available to build was on the edge of a small glacier and the buildings were constantly moving. Several 

solutions were devised to meet the demands of the site. The Jumbo bunkhouse was set on rollers and the 

building was anchored to the cliffs wtth cables. Consequently, the foundations moved while the buildings 

remained fixed." Triangular avalanche barriers between the cliff and the camp provided additional protection 

from ever-present snow slides. These rock filled cribs split the force of the snow slides and directed them 

between the buildings." 

By 1915, the Company felt that both mines were well equipped with bunkhouses, blacksmith shops, 

compressors and other necessary equipment. In 1917, a new transformer house was erected at the east end 

of the camp where much of the early development had occurred. In 1919, additional protection was provided 

to the aerial tramway and the workmen by moving the Jumbo loading station underground. "' 

The sequence of construction at the Jumbo camp is little understood at this time. It is safe to assert 

that the major expansion of the site came along with the discovery of additional rich deposits of copper ore in 

1914 and the completion of the aerial tramway in 1915. Compressors and power were installed early on and 

large numbers of men were engaged in the construction efforts.,., When the bunkhouses and other structures 

were erected can be derived with some accuracy from the 1926 Fire Insurance Map of the Jumbo Mine . 

., Steams, op. cit., p. 135; and Moffit and Maddren, USGS Bulletin 520, op. cit., p. 165, 

22 Moffit, USGS Bulletin 542, op. cit., p. 84. 

23 Graumann, op. cit., pp. 21-22; Brooks, USGS Bulletin 592, op. cit., p.60; and Sumner S. Smith, The Mining Industry in 

the Territory ofAlaska During the Calendar Year 1915, US Bureau of Mines Bulletin 142 (Washington: USGPO, 1917), p. 37. 

"Alan M. Bateman and D. H. McLaughlin, "Geology of the Ore Deposits of Kennecott, Alaska." Economic GeologyXV.1 

(January-February 1920): 16; B. D. Stewart and B. W. Dyer, Annual Report ofthe Territorial Mines Inspector to the 

GovsoKJrofAlaska, 1921. 

" The construction dales for the avalanche control devises is problematic al this time. They do not show on the 1926 lire 

insurance plan of the Jumbo mine. 

" Smith, USBoM Bulletin 142, op. cit., p. 38; Kennecott Copper Corporation, Jumbo Transformer House, April 14, 1917, 

Drawing No. B-38; and Fred H. Moffit, 'Mining in Chitina Valley; in Mineral Resources ofAlaska; Report on Progress in 

Investigations in 1919, USGS Bulletin 714 (Washington: USGPO, 1921), p. 195. 

""News of the Camps." The Pacijjc Mining Journal 2:6 (June 1913): 116; "News of the Camps.' Alaska and Nodhweci 

MinjngJoumal 5:1 (July 1914): 157. 

APPENDICES 
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APPENOIX H 

Earlier constructions were necessary to advance the underground works. At the east end of the camp 

an adit with a snow shed connected to small shops and storage areas. As services were moved underground, 

the service area became less important and 1926 erected a new blacksmith shop directly over the rail bed. 

The tramway station, close by another adit, was erected sometime between 1911 and 1915. This structure 

was not removed when the loaning station was moved underground in 1919. There are four bunkhouses 

numbered sequentially from one to four, which may be significant in itself. Given that the "Bunkhouse No. 1 • is 

close to the tramway station, not in line with the other three, and atypical in design, it is probably the first 

bunkhouse on the site. The other thre&-three, two, and four story respectively-may well have been added 

in sequence. At some point prior to 1926, a heating plant and other minor structures were added to create the 

footprint evident today ... 

The less severe slope of the camp site allowed a more casual orientation of the buildings. They are 

spread in a general east-west sweep across the edge of the glacier. The long axes of the bunkhouses as all 

major features on the site run north south, but hardly parallel. The bunkhouses followed the wood-frame and 

gable style adopted elsewhere at Kennecott. Tarpaper covered most of the exterior walls rather than paint. A 

five-hole privy was located south of the heating plant. 

After 1926, only minor changes were made to the surface plant. In 1930, the blacksmith shop was 

moved underground to better serve a larger area of the mine. Power transmission lines relocated underground so that the Jumbo was supplied through the Bonanza mine. Ongoing repair costs due to snow slides 

and weather in general were greatly reduced.29 

The Jumbo mine closed in 1938, along with the rest of the Kennecott operations. Often called the 

"richest mine; the Jumbo produced more copper if not more ore than any of the other four mines. 

Lack of maintenance and the general extremes of the climate and elevation took their toll although 

the site held up well for at least ten to fifteen years. In the 1950s, Ray Trotoshau constructed a road to the 

Jumbo.30 Mine waste down slope from the camp was recontoured In the fashion of a dike or wall along the 

south face of the camp. At one point the aerial tramway cables come into contact with the road surface. 

There is no immediate record of Wrangell Consolidated Mining Company efforts at the Jumbo. 

Few structures remain standing. One bunkhouse, a tramway break-over, and the surface bunkers 

associated with the original loading facility. Even these structures are in poor repair and in danger of collapse 

as the ground continues to shift and twist the buildings. Everything else is in ruins. BunRho·use No. 4 may 

have been partially salvaged, or the roof and upper stories may have been carried away,by a slide. 

"Kennecott Copper Corporation, "General Surface, Fire Insurance Map, Jumbo Mine," November 25, 1926, Drawing No. 

G-4, NPS/AKSO. The heating plant at the Jumbo was replaced at least once as the older plant was installed in the Erie 

mine camp in 1937; see Kennecott Copper Company, "Annual Report for 1937, Alaska Mines; p. 15. 

,. Kennecott Copper Corporation, "Alaska Mines, Annual Report, 1930, p. 12. 

" Knutson Interview, op. cit. 

A PPENDICES 
Erle Mine 

The Erie outcropping was located in 1900, shortly after the discoveries made at the Bonanza and 

Jumbo. It is highly likely that the prospectors simply followed the line of the contact west from one showing to 

another. Initially, the deposit proved to be too small and too remote. Development of the site was delayed in 

favor of the larger Bonanza and Jumbo deposits. Tne Erie was IOcated on a steep mountain slope about 3_ 

miles north of National Creek and a little over 1,000 feet above the Glacier. Little work was initially done on 

the Erie. As of 1909, debris had been cleared away and an open cut made in the contact to better e)(pose the 

ore.31 

The relative isolation of the Erie mine raises questions about where and how the work force was 

housed and supported. Tents can be assumed at first and more permanent structures would follow. Anumber 

of smaller frame structures were observed in the ravine approximately 200 feet below the present Erie camp 

during the 1993 survey of mine openings associated with the Kennecott operations. These ruins would have 

supported work on the 31 0 portal. Similar structures may well have erected on the site of the present bunkhouse when work was initially undertaken on the 100 Level where the bulk of the structures are now clustered.32 

Significant exploration and development work began on the Erie in 1913.33 Access to the site was by 

way of a trail, later upgraded to a wagon road, along the eastern moraine of the Kennecott and Root glaciers. 

1916 had driven three prospecting tunnels driven at the Erie. The upper most, at the present camp level, was 

700 feet long. Access to the Erie was by way of an aerial tram from the moraine to the upper tunnel. Ore 

mined from the Erie was sacked and stockpiled for sledding to the mill once enough snow was on the 

ground."'Building space was at a premium at the Erie. The main tunnel and the tramway terminal were located 

in the limestone cliffs at the head of a steep gully. The flanks of the gully were steep necessitating cutting 

trails, building terraces and at least one structure-the blacksmith shop-into the rock. Support structures 

were tightly clustered along the gully wall close to the tunnel and tramway. 

Work continued at the Erie in a "desultory manner" with some ore mined and sledded to the mill in 

1918. 35 When the main bunkhouse was built is not know with certainty. It was designed in its current configuration in 1924; this work may have been additions and modifications to an existing structure.30 The need for 

the bunkhouse was real in 1924, as the Erie had been successfully connected underground with the Jumbo 

mine on July 15". The Erie-Jumbo Cross-Cut intersected five ore bodies which were mined more or less 

continuously until 1931."' 

" Moffit and Capps, USGS Bulletin No. 448, op. cit., pp. 91-92, 

"'See Danny Rosenkrans, "1993 Kennecott Mine Openings and Tram Survey Report;• and L. W. Hovis field notes and 

photologsforJuly 19, 1993, NPS/AKSO. 

"'"Mines Tributary to Cordova; The Chjtjna Leader 4,15 (27 January 1914): 3; and "Alaska Coast Development; Allwla 

and Northwest Mining Journal 4:1 (January 1914): 3, 4. 

"' Moffit, USGS Bulletin No. 662, op. cit., pp.173-174. 

36 "General Points of Interest," op. cit., p. 8. 

,. Kennecott Copper Corporation, "Erie Mine, General Drawing of Bunkhouse, 1924Addition - Surface Plant," August 18, 

1924, Drawing No. B-19, NPS, AKSO. The question remains was the bunkhouse an addition to an existing building or. 

completely new addition to the surface plant. 

" Kennecott Copper Corporation, Tenth Annual Report of the Kennecott Copper Corporation For the Year End8d 

December 31, 1924, p. 6. 

CUt.TURA L LANDSCAPE REPORT : KENNECOTT Mlt.LTOWN 
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APPENDIX H 

APPENDICES 
The Erie mine and camp was a smaller operation; seventeen men were employed on average in 

1924 when the bunkhouse was erected or enlarged. Production levels, and presumably manpower levels, 

remained steady through the 1920s suggesting few major alterations to the camp during the period.39 The 

three-story frame bunkhouse included rooms, washing facilities, a kitchen and mess hall, a reading room, a 

comm'issary, which was a part of the larger foreman's office and quarters. Rooms were available for twenty 

men on the second floor: 14 in shared rooms and six in private rooms including one each for the cook and the 

foreman. The other four may have been for lead hands or others of higher status. 

The bunkhouse was covered with tarpaper and left unpainted. The privy was connected to the south 

end of the bunkhouse by a boardwalk. Upslope and closer to the mine entrance a frame storage building held 

water and fuel tanks. An addition to this structure housed a generator with concrete footings. The transformer 

building north of the bunkhouse was built on pilings to compensate for the lack of level space. The blacksmith 

shop, one of the earlier facilities on the site was recessed into the rock face. 

Just as the local topography defined the placement of buildings, circulation was equally limited. The 

principal pathway connected the bunkhouse with the mine adit. Between the adit and the blacksmith shop the 

trail was cut into the rock. Walkways and staircases connected the other structures. Handrails were provided. 

Access to the Erie was probably by the aerial tramway of through the mines once the connections 

were in place. Sections of a well defined trail connecting the camp with the moraine can be seen in the steep 

gully immediately south of the camp, and all mines were more or less connected by a trail that traced the 

contact from the Bonanza mine to the Erie. Once the mines were connected underground, ore traveled to the 

Jumbo and the Erie tramway was reserved for supplies. This situation continued until 1930, when the Erie 

Bunkhouse was closed on November 1". A new shop built underground at the Jumbo mine, which improved 

the overall efficiency of the operation, replacea the blacksmith stlop. Ore ~ontinueCI to be produced for 

another year; support for the operations came from the Jumbo mine camp.39 

In the final years of operation, a few new ore bodies were discovered in the Erie mine and the bunkhouse was reopened in June 1937. Repairs were made to the roof at the time, and healing stoves, which had 

originally warmed the building, were replaced with a low-p'ressure steam boiler and radiator system previously 

used in the heating plant at the Jumbo mine. Power lines connecting the Erie with the mill town were also 

repaired.'° The Erie remained open nearly to the end: "Mining operations at the Erie mine were discontinued 

at the end of the shaft on October 14, however, main level haulage continued over to Jumbo until October 15, 

when the entire personnel and camp equipment were moved to Bonanza."'' 

No further work has taken place at the Erie. As at the other mines, natural processes, particularly 

wind and snow slides have damaged or destroyed the structures. The bunkhouse, the water and oil storage 

building and the tramway terminal are the only relatively intact structures. The paths are precarious or swept 

away. Despite the relative inaccessibility of the place, looters have taken many of the portable itemsincluding the pool table-in recent years. 

,. "General Points of Interest," op. cit., p. 1; and "Total Ore Production; op. cit . 

., KCC, "Alaska Mines, 1930," op. cit., p. 12. 

'° KCC, "Alaska Mines, 1937,: op. cit., pp. 7, 16. 

" Kennecott Copper Corporation, • Annual Report for 1938, Alaska Mines," p. 19. 

CU L TURAL LANDSCAPE REPOR T : KENNECOT T MI L L TOWN 
APPENDIX H 

Glacier Mine 

The Glacier mine was the most unusual ore body worked at Kennecott. Like the Slide Ore, the 

Glacier deposit was formed by the rapid and continued erosion of the extremely high-grade ores on the ridge 

above at the Bonanza outcrop. Unlike the Slide Ore, the Glacier material was encased in ice, not loose in the 

scree. As the material tell down It was encased in the glacier and the lateral moraine of the alpine glacier. Ice 

literally became the •country rock" for ore. Miners worked in the ice-drilling, blas1ing, and even timbering as 

they would in rock.2 

Initially, two tunnels-the Glacier Tunnel and the Upper Tunnel-were driven in the ice to explore the 

potential of the deposit. A third tunnel was driven later to further define the extent of the ore. The main tunnels 

ran parallel to the lateral moraine and several cross-cuts ran at right angles to establish the width of the 

deposit. During the exploration phase, access to the Glacier was by way of an aerial tramway connecting the 

surface of the glacier with the Bonanza mine 500 feet above.43 

The decision to mine the Glacier was made sometime prior to 1918 when construction started on the 

5,000-foot long Glacier tramway to connect the mine with the Jumbo tramway. The tramway was completed in 

1920 and immediately pu1 into operation. Production was heavy from the first. .. 

Once the Glacier mine went into production, drilling and blasting were abandoned in favor of scrappers to move the material the sorting facilities at the head of the Glacier tram. The mine was worked for 

approximately three months out of the year, July through September, when the ice melted sufficiently to 

release about 30,000 tons of ore. Some experiments were conducted in artificial thawing, bu1 the increased 

costs of mining during the cold months were deemed too great for the return.•• 

The winch house and the tramway terminal building were the two major structures at the Glacier 

mine. The tramway terminal was located at the toe of the glacier as was the associated sorting facilities and 

waste rock dump. The winch house was built on skids, a movable structure, and was placed as advantageous. In all probability, moves were not frequent as blocks and other rigging devices allowed the scraper 

cables to tum corner with relative ease. Cable anchors, loose cable, sheaves, and scrapers scattered about 

the site attest to various organizations of the works. 

Accommodations on the Glacier were rude, probably no more than a tent frame or two. The remains 

of one, complete with a wood burning stove, are located up-slope from the winch house. This small shelter 

may have served as a lunch room, temporary quarters when it was unsafe to ride the tramway back up to the 

Bonanza mine, or as part of the regular quarters for men working on the Glacier. The seasonal nature of the 

work and the limited size of the ore body precluded any need or justification for adlditional, more extensive 

facilities ... 

" Bateman and Mclaughlin, op. c;1., pp. 23 - 24. 

43 "Bonanza Outcrop, Kennecott Mines Co., Glacier Mine," [circa 1917), Kennecott Mines Map Inventory, Drawer 40, Roll 

R (Drawing No. M-5), copy at NPS/AKSO; and Stewart and Oyer, op. cit., p. 52. 

" Kennecott Copper Corporation, Fourth Annual Report ofthe Kennecott Copper Corporation for the Year Ended Decem• 

ber 31, 1918, p. 8, and Sixth Annual Report of the Kennecott Copper Corporation For the Year Ended December 31, 

1920, p, 7: and Attred H. Brooks, "The Alaskan Mining Industry in 1921," in Mineral Resources ofAlaska; Report on 

Progress ofInvestigations in 1921, USGS Bulletin 739 (Washington: USGPO, 1923), p. 23. 

""Outline of Geology and Mining Methods, op. cit., p. 9. 

"WAST, 'NPS Site Inventory Form, XMC-125," July 16, 1993. Several terraces are evident on the site suggesting other 

possible locations for the winch house and possible crew quarters. 

APPENDICES 
Kennecott last produced ore from the Glacier mine in 1928. Over the nine seasons it operated the 

Glacier Mine shipped a little over 160,000 tons of ore containing a total of 3,526 tons of copper." From the 

first to the last, the Glacier was an unusual operation: a placer mine on a glacier high in the mountains of 

Alaska. 

""Total Ore Production," op.cit. 

CU LT URAL LANDSCAP E REPORT: K E NNECOTT M IL LTOWN 
i: 

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I\PPENDIX H 

APPENDICES 
Bibliography 

Alaska. Territorial Mine Inspector. Report of the Territorial Mine Inspector to the Governor ofAlaska for the 

Yeat{s) 1917, 1921. 

Alaska and Northwest Mining Journal. 1914. 

Bateman, Alan M. and 0. H. McLaughlin. "Geology of the Ore Deposits of Kennecott, Alaska." Economic 

GeologyXV.1 (January-February 1920): 16; 

Brooks, Allred H. "The Alaskan Mining Industry in 1913." in Mineral Resources ofAlaska; Report on Progress 

of Investigations in 1913. US Geological Survey Bulletin 592. Washington: USGPO, 1914. 

Brooks, Allred H. "The Alaskan Mining Industry in 1914." In Mineral Resources of Alaska; Report on Progress 

ofInvestigations in 1914. US Geological Survey Bulletin 622. Washington: USGPO, 1915. 

Brooks, Alfred H. "The Alaskan Mining Industry in 1921.' In Mineral Resources ofAlaska; Report on Progress 

of Investigations in 1921. USGS Bulletin 739. Washington: USGPO, 1923. 

The Chitina Leader. 1912 - -1914. 

Graumann, Melody Webb. "Big Business in Alaska: The Kennecott Mines, 1898 - 1938." Anthropology and 

Historic Preservation, Cooperative Park Studies Unit, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Occasional 

Paper #1 . March 1977; published as "Kennecott: Alaskan Origins of a Copper Empire, 1900-1938." 

Westem Historical Quarterly. 9,2 (April 1978): 197-211. 

Historical Society of Seattle and King County, Seattle, Washington. Museum of History and Industry, Photographic Archives. 

Kennecott Copper Corporation. Annual Repon[s) of the Kennecott Copper Corporation for the Yeat{s] ended 

December31, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1924 

Kennecott Copper Corporation. Records. Copies held by the United State National Park Service, Alaska 

Support Office. 

Moffit, Fred H. "Mining in the Chitina District." In Mineral Resources ofAlaska; Report on Progress ofInvestigations in 1909. US Geological Survey Bulletin 442. Washington: USGPO, 1910. 

Moffit, Fred H."Mining in Chitina Valley.' In Mineral Resources ofAlaska; Report on Progress of Investigations 

in 1912. US Geological Survey Bulletin 542. Washington: USGPO, 1913. 

Moffit, Fred H. "Mining in Chitina Valley.• In Mineral Resources ofAlaska; Report on Progress in Investigations 

in 1919. USGS Bulletin 714. Washington: USGPO, 1921. 

Moffit, Fred H. "Mining in the Kotsina-Chitina, Chistochina, and Valdez Creek Regions." In Mineral Resources 

of Alaska; Report on Progress of Investigations in 1908. US Geological Survey Bulletin 379. Washington: USGPO, 1909. 

CULT-URAL LANDSCAPE R E PORT: KENNECOTT MI LL TOWN 
APPENDIX H 

Moffit, Fred H. and Stephen R. Capps. Geology and Mineral Resources ofthe Nizina District, Alaska .. USGS 

Bulletin 448. Washington: USGPO, 1911 . 

Moffit, Fred H. and A. G. Maddren. "The Mineral Resources of the Kotsina and Chitina Valleys, Copper River 

Region" In Mineral Resources ofAlaska; Report on Progress ofInvestigations in 1907. US Geological Survey Bulletin 520. Washington: USGPO, 1908. 

Northwest Mining Jounial. 1907 - 1909 

The Pacific Mining Journal. 1913. 

Smith, Sumner S. The Mining Industry in the Territory ofAlaska During the Calendar Year 1915. US Bureau of 

Mines Bulletin 142. Washington: USGPO, 1917. · 

Stearns, Robert. •Alaska's Kennecott Copper and the Kennecott Copper Corporation.• Alaska Journal 5 

(1975): 130- 139. 

United States Geological Survey. Photographic Library. 

United States National Park Service. Alaska Support Office. Telephone interview with Howard Knutson [Logan 

Hovis]. 19 October 95. 

United States National Park Service. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. [Danny Rosaenkrans]. 

•1993 Kennerott Mine Openings and Tram Survey Report," January 1994. 

United States National Park Service. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Kennecott Kids Collection, Jean Girad photographs. 

United States National Park Service. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. "NPS Site Inventory 

Form, XMC-125," July 16, 1993. 

University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Rasmussen Library. Clara Rust Collection. 

APPENDICES 
APPENDIX I 

Evaluation of Historic Structures 

August 20, 1998 

Steve Peterson 

Preservation of the Kennecott Mill Complex of buildings requires a clear set of priorities, substantial 

financial investment and years of focused work. The scale and extent of the work that is required to 

stabilize the buildings also needs to be cognizant of the limitations of a relatively short field season, 

the potential for the work effort to overwhelm the community and the intermittent available of financial resources available to the NPS. Over 60 years of abandonment have resulted in many serious 

preservation problems that will not be resolved quickly. In recognition of these issues, the NPS has 

evaluated and prioritized the preservation tasks at Kennecott in the following manner. 

Step #1: Evaluation of the Buildings to Establish Resource Value and Priorities for Preservation: 

Each of the 13 historic buildings at the Kennecott mill complex was evaluated to determine their 

individual architectural value. Each building received-a value ranging from very high to very low. To 

determine the value a single point was given for each of the criteria that the building met. Scores 

ranged from 4 points = very high, 3 = high, 2 = medium, 1 = low. The specific elements that were 

evaluated include; 

• Architectural significance: A determination of architectural quality and importance was made for 

each building to determine if the building is of primary or secondary importance. 

• Relationship to the railroad corridor: Is the building important in defining and delineating the 

railroad alleyway. 

• Importance to mill complex: Is the building an important part of the milling technology or management of the enterprise? 

• Value of the massing of the buildings: How important is the building to the massing and form of 

the mill complex. Would its removal significantly alter or change the character and massing of 

the complex of buildings? 

The buildings were ranked from Very High to Very Low based upon the structure's historic function 

and thematic importance to the Kennecott mining activity and community. 

APPENDICES 
In the Comparison Chart below the historic and architectural values were evaluated to determine an 

overall rating in order to establish the importance of a specific building relative to the other buildings 

and establish a long-term preservation priority . 

.-~-,,-;, r- ,-<..., ~ r T"---m ~ - H1stoncal · ; · ,. ,, "' •'i 

Val~e t\ , \' l , -~ ·:·  ~ ~.-' i.'" Wery High 1\. H gh 

-,OZ ti\. ·=•Ti'!',-.-~,:, i ...,m -~ ')" · ~- '';i.r \ · · '~"\ · ' . , · 121 i' 

~1.Arc1'ite~ ~.ral_Valn'e' -, ,,.- . ~ ~ Medium . t ow"'l"l__ ~ Very Low_. 

Yfl!l. High . ~ Very High Very High High High Medium 

:tilgh"'·. l J!i, ') Very High High High Medium Medium 

Medium ' ·._,1 High High Medium Medium Low 

Uo~,t · 31,, ( High Medium Medium Low Very Low 

Very L~w~ ·w Medium Medium Low Very Low Very Low 

BUILDING RANKING 

~ ~ Ii ~ ~ t l Rc1tteJ-i~RA'iAtfo~ Hltr o RJf • BUILf PJN~ ·,~ -~· ;;\~ ~ "• ~ ... · . . l "· 

, 

• '.~ f?ATl~C.NALOE ~~~VALUE 1 1 

·~ Jt'\J ~ ·lt . . . . ~-· MIii Structure 85,0Q,O !iQ ft ;;. J Ve!}'. High Very High Very High 

2 .. MIii Structure);- Ore Chute •t< ' Very High Very High Very High 

Very High ' . teaching Plant -Wort~iectlon ··. Very High Very High 

, 22;2'00 ?"ii•~ ~ i ' ->4t 

4!\PQ,,..yerhouseJ ;3,2J.B sq ft, Very Hi h Medium Hi h ' 1 

;5. M1fohlne,Shoe s;sso sg.ft

,

• :~ 

e 

'\l J Ver::t.High Medium High 

High High High ~: Company ~ ore an~ Warehouse 

;13385§9 11- ._ S.. ,· ~ . High High '.i~a;:i;Gern;_ral ~anag~~ High 

i. ,451 ~ It ~ ,_, 

~ High Medium High N,ationl\~Cr~l<'Bu!1kho!'se .'\ .

· 3,750 s9 It -~t -~•- cl,, 1 ·9. National Creek,Rallroad f.:· 

Trestle j Medium High High

High Medium High 10. West Bunkhouse ~ .'\'11\sso s9 ft·~, · . ;t i .• 1 

·11. Schoolhouse 1,200 sg ft % · Medium High High 

;12. Assay: Building 512-sg·ft :;;., Low High Medium 

~ 3- Leaching_Plant-south section 'ti Low High Medium

I 22,200 Sg jt '#, f 

1,4. Recrea!lon Hall (corr;imunlty ha!i1 Medium Medium Medium 

2,280 sg ft . ,<I, . ,. 15. Depot Building 336 sq It . ~ Medium Medium Medium 

'iii. Meat Rouse 778 sq ff, 1 [ow [ ow [ow 

'if~-~,. 

CULTURAL LANOSCAP E R E PORT : KENNECOTT MILLTOWN 
APPENDIX I 

Stabilization of the Kennecott Buildings 

The goal of the National Par1< Service's Stabilization Program is to stop the deterioration of the 13 historic 

buildings that the NPS acquired within the Kennecott National Historic Landmark. Stabilization tasks will 

include emergency stabilization or '1riage', long term stabilization and possibly adaptive reuse of some of the 

buildings depending upon which of the alternatives is selected under this planning effort. Every effort will be 

made to prolect the site and buildings to insure future management options and insure the preservation of the 

Kennecott Buildings. In order to do meet this goal, the NPS will; 

• Conduct on a building by building basis a condition assessment to determine emergency and long-term 

stabilization needs. 

• Conduct emergency stabilization or "triage• repair in the first two years to arrest the imminent collapse 

and irreversible damage to the structures as a result of over 60 years of abandonment. 

• Beginning in year 3, Implement a systematic program of stabilization to reestablish of a weathering skin 

for the buildings by repairing roofs, walls and foundations using materials compatible with the historic 

period and consistent with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for the Treatment of /,istoric Properties. 

• Repair deteriorated structural connections at floors, walls, and foundations to resolve vertical and lateral 

loads on the buildings as a result of winds and snow. 

• Mttigate water problems \lue to rain, site percolation and periodic flooding of National Creek. 

• Undertake a site cleanup to remove non-compatible building materials. 

• Preserve and protecting documents and artifacts remaining in and around the structures. 

• Mitigate of all hazardous materials identffied at the site in compliance with the NPS/ADEC Agreement 

• Undertake building modifications to facilitate visitor use in a manner that respects the historic character of 

the buildings. 

APPENDICES 
APPENDIX J 

Chronological List of Historic ArchitecturaVEngineering Drawings, 

Kennecott Mines' 

Compiled by Logan Hovis, 1998 

Year Drawing Date Drawing Legend and Numbers 

1907 JUL 22, 1907 [Bonanza Tramway], Final Location of Discharge Terminal, Drawing 

No. 2, File No. T-183 

1907 AUG 23, 1907 Map Showing Location of Buildings at the Foot of National Creek, 

Kennecott Mines Co., Kennecott-Alaska, Drawing No. 8 

1907 OCT 10, 1907 [Bonanza Tramway], Sketch ofAngle-Station with Ore-bin, Drawing 

No.10 

1907 OCT 21, 1907 Bunkhouse [East Bunkhouse, National Creek) at the Foot of 

National Creek, Drawing No. 12, File No. B-25 

1907 DEC 06, 1907 [Bonanza Tramway), Elevation of Loading Terminal for Kennecott 

Mines Co. Designed by the Trenton Iron Co., Trenton, N.J. 

1910 JAN 04, 1910 [Concentrating Mill], Concentrator, General Framing Plans for 

Lower Transfer Bins, A-4 

1910 JAN 06, 1910 [Concentrating Mill], Concentrator, Complete Drawing for Upper 

Transfer Bins, A-5 

1910 JAN 12, 1910 [Concentrating Mill), Concentrator, Detailed Framing Plans for 

Lower Transfer Bins, A-6 

1910 SEP 12, 1910 [Concentrating Mill & Tramway], Tramway, Skeleton of Store Bins 

and Housing for Lower Terminal Rail Extension 

1911 JAN06, 1911 [Concentrating Mill), Concentrator, Framing Plans for Upper Trans 

fer Bins, A-5 

1911 JAN 12, 1911 [Concentrating Mill), Concentrator, Detailed Framing Plans for 

Lower Transfer Bins, A-6 

1 Bracketed and bold titles in the drawing legend are provided by the editor (Hovis) and are for clarification of the information contained on the sheet. All other information i_n the drawing legend portion of the list is taken (verbatim) from the title 

block of each individual drawing. Bin numbers, reference numbers, file locations, and cross-references relate to system(s) 

used by the Kennecott Corporation during the historic periOd. To date, the most comprehensive extant file of these 

drawings is in the Alaska Regional Office of the National Par1< Service, Anchorage. Alaska. 

APPENDICES 
1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1911 

1912 

1912 

1912 

JAN24, 1911 

MAY 23, 1911 

JUL 02, 1911 

JUL 03, 1911 

JUL 05, 1911 

AUG 22, 1911 

AUG 26, 1911 

OCT07, 1911 

OCT 11, 1911 

OCT 12, 1911 

OCT12, 1911 

OCT 13, 1911 

NOV 12, 1911 

DEC 09, 1911 

JAN 09, 1912 

JAN 09, 1912 

FEB 18, 1912 

[Concentrating Mill], Concentrator, Detailed Framing Plans for 

Lower Transfer Bins, A-4 

[Concentrating Mill], High Grade Bin, General Drawing [revised 

Aug. 6, 1923) 

[Concentrating Mill], Esperanza Dewaterer . 

[Concentrating Mill], Concentrator, Esperanza Classifier - Detail 

Drawing, Kennecott Office - DRG. No. [9532?) 

[Concentrating Mill], Gen. Drg. Floors in Jig Section, C.M. 4 

[Concentrating Mill], Crushing Plant, Storage Bins, General Draw 

ings 

[Concentrating Mill], Setting 36"x16" Recrushing Roll 

[Bonanza Tramway], Passenger-Car for Kennecott Mines Co., 

Designed by the Trenton Iron Co., Trenton, N. J. 

Power Plant - General Plan, Mine File. Superseded by P.P. 90, 

Sept. 1924 

Power Plant- Sections, Mine File 

Power Plant - Sections, Mine File No. 

Power Plant - Section, Mine File No. 

[Bonanza Mine], Mine Ore Bin and Loading Terminal, Cross 

Section and Side Elevation, 1911 Installation 

[Concentrating MIii], Coarse Crushing Dept., Crusher Setting, Mine 

. File No. 7, Superseded by Drawing No. CM-66 dated 1-17-23 

[Concentrating Mill], Coarse Crushing Department, Conveyor Pit 

[Concentrating Mill], Coarse Crushing Department, Conveyor Pit 

(plan at top of mill] 

[Concentrating MIii], Sections of Building, Track Scale & Sacking 

Shed 

C ULTURAL L AN DSCAPE R EP ORT : KEN NECO TT MI L L T OWN 
APPE::NDIX J 

1912 

1912 

1912 

1912 

1912 

1912 

1913 

1913 

1915 

1915 

1915 

1915 

1915 

1917 

1917 

1917 

FEB 21, 1912 

FEB 28, 1912 

FEB29, 1912 

JUL 05, 1912 

JUL 10, 1912 

SEP 07, 1912 

JAN 04, 1913 

NOV 1913 

JAN 13, 1915 

[MAR 4], 1915 

MAR 18, 1915 

AUG 16, 1915 

AUG 16, 1915 

FEB24, 1917 

MAR 07, 1917 

APR01 , 1917 

[Concentrating Mill], General Drawing, Track Scale & Sacking 

Shed 

[Concentrating Mill], Coarse Crushing Unit, Crusher and Conveyor 

[Section at top of mill] 

[Concentrating Mill], Coarse Crushing Unit, Crusher & Conveyor 

[Concentrating Mill], Mill Cribbing, Details of Crib No. 1 

[Concentrating Mill], Coarse Ore Bin Showing New Bracing 

[Concentrating Mill]. Detail of Bull Jig, Traced from Tailing Jig, 

Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mand C Co., 20-X11-1909, 2536 

[Concentrating Mill), Allis-Chalmers Co., Mining Department, 

Milwaukee, Wis., 19'-0" Hancock Jig L. H., General Drawing (Stan 

dard), Drawing No. MU 337. 

Profile of Wire Rope [Jumbo Mine] Tramway, for Kennecott Mines 

Co., Sheet No. 2 

[Concentrating Mill]. Location of Disc Crusher 

[Concentrating Mill], Sampling Plant 

[Leaching Plant], Kennecott Mines Co., Arrangement ofAmmonia 

Leaching Plant, Capacity 400 Tons Per 24 Hours, No. 1 

[Concentrating Mill], Proposed Arrangement of New Crushing Unit, 

Drwg No. 1 

[Concentrating Mill], Proposed Arrangement of New Crushing Unit, 

Drwg No. 2 

Surface Buildings, General Drawing of Apartment House, Lower 

Camp - South End, DAG B-6 

[Leach Plant], Ground for Proposed Extension to Leaching Plant, 

DAG No. L.P.-1 [Other structures showing include Machine Shop, Oil 

Tank Sack House, Leaching Plant, Sacking Shed, and Mill.) 

[Leach Plant], Distributor Drive Gear, Kennecott Copper Corpora 

lion, Latouche, Alaska, DAG. No. L.P. 7 

APPENOICES 
1917 

1917 

1917 

1917 

1917 

1917 

1917 

1917 

1917 

1917 

1918 

1918 

1918 

1918 

1919 

1919 

1920 

1920 

APR 14, 1917 

APR 17, 1917 

MAY31,1917 

JUL 06, 1917 

JUL27, 1917 

JUL28, 1917 

AUG 26, 1917 

[AUG 28 1917] 

SEP 09, 1917 

DEC 1917 

JUN 1918 

JUL 27, 1918 

SEP 03, 1918 

NOV 22, 1918 

FEB 28, 1919 

JUN 20, 1919 

JAN 03, 1920 

JAN 13, 1920 

Jumbo Transformer House, Drg. No. 8-38 

Bunkhouse No. 1 [East Bunkhouse, National Creek] Proposed 

Alterations, DRG 8-24 

Proposed Bunkhouse, Bonanza Mine, DAG. No. B-36 [marked 

Obsolete] 

East Slide [Bonanza Mine] Tram Terminal, DAG. No. T-7 

Ventilation Door, Bonanza [Mine] Bunkhouse, DAG B-33 

[Leach Plant], Storage Bin, L. P. Addition, L. Plant, DAG. No. L.P.-34 

Bonanza [Mine] Bunkhouse, Floor Plans, First and Second Floor 

(BK 27) 

Ammonia Leaching Plant, Capacity (8]00 Tons, L.P. 44 

Bonanza [Mine] Bunkhouse, Heating Layout, Brg. No. B-35 

Power Plant Extension, Turbine Room, PP-11 

[Mine Equipment), 60 Cu. Ft. - 30" Gauge Ore Skip tor Bonanza 

Mine, DAG No. MS 34 

Five Room House, B-28 [2 versions) 

Leaching Plant, General Drawing, Double Effect Evaporator Unit, 

L.P.37 

Glacier Tramway, Station No. 1, DAG. No. T-159 

[Mine Equipment), Jumbo Skip Pocket Deflector, DAG. No. M 92 

[Concentrating Mill], Wearing Ring tor Symons Crusher, Drg. No. 

C.M. 71 

Surtace Buildings, Alterations to Annex in 1920, Building No. 26-

Lower Camp [Two--Story Bunkhouse, National Creek], 8-26 

[Concentrating Mill]. Plan, Platform for Sampler, Mill Tailings, C.M. 

73 

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPOR T: KENNECOTT MI L LTOW N 
APPENDIX J 

1920 

1920 

1920 

1920 

1921 

1921 

1922 

1922 

1922 

1922 

1922 

1922 

1922 

1922 

1923 

FEB23, 1920 

JUN 15, 1920 

JUL 17, 1920 

OCT 30, 1920 

JAN20, 1921 

SEP 16, 1921 

MAR 27, 1922 

APR 13, 1922 

AUG 18, 1922 

AUG 28, 1922 

OCT 12, 1922 

OCT 15, 1922 

NOV 01, 1922 

DEC 09, 1922 

APR 18, 1923 

[Mine Equipment], The Wellman-Seaver Morgan Co., Cleveland, 

Ohio, USA, C.O. 8426, General Drawing of 36" x 36" Single Drum 

Geared Electric Hoist, Drawing No. 63019. 

[Mother Lode Mine], Section Showing 1250 Level Pockets, Mother 

Lode Vertical Shaft, Drwg. No. M.L. • 12, Sheet 1 

[Concentrating Mill], Proposed Change Hancock Jigs, Drg. No. 

CM-75 

Leaching Plant, Details ol Rakes and Rake Arms, Excavator - 30 

Ft. Diam. Leaching Tank, L.P. 64 

Leaching Plant, Flow Diagram, Representing One Complete Cycle, 

L.P.65 

[Concentrating Mill], Hancock Addition, C-48 

Power Plant, General Drawing, Addition For Diesel Installation, P.P. 

63 (showing revisions date 4-5-22 and 5-4-22) 

Concentrating Mill, Standard Brass Washer For-Simons Disc 

Crusher, DAG. No. C.M. 82 

Concentrating Mill, Timber Sets - Conveyor Tunnel 

Concentrating Mill, Foundation Drawing, Addition for Sample Mill, 

C.M. 91 

Concentrating Mill, General Drawing, Addition for Sample Mill, C.M. 

107 

Concentrating Mill, Revision - West End, Addition for Sampling Mill 

Concentrating Mill, Floor Diagram - 3"', 4"' & 6'" Floors, Addition to 

Table Section 

Concentrating Mill, Conveyor Details, Addition for Sampling Mill, 

Final 

Mine Equipment, General Drawing Matteson Mine Car, Self Dump 

ing - Type 33- Capacity 18.75 Cu. Ft., DAG. M.S. 20 [Manufactured 

by Joshua hendy Iron Works, San Francisco, Calif.] 

APPENDICES 
1923 

1923 

1923 

1924 

1924 

1924 

1924 

1925 

1925 

1925 

1925 

1926 

1926 

1926 

1926 

1930 

JUL20, 1923 

JUL27, 1923 

AUG 04, 1923 

MAY 18, 1924 

AUG 18, 1924 

AUG 19, 1924 

SEP 03, 1924 

APA 10, 1925 

MAY20, 1925 

MAY 22, 1925 

OCT 16, 1925 

MAR 30, 1926 

JUN 18, 1926 

OCT20, 1926 

NOV 25, 1926 

JUN21,1930 

leaching Plant, Details of Intermediate & Old Trusses, Sacking 

Shed - Flotation Unit, L.P. 32 

leaching Plant, Roof Truss Details, Sacking Shed - Flotation U'nit, 

L.P. 80 

Concentrating Mill, Proposed High Grade Bin, Sacking Shed [216 

Tons Capacity] 

Concentrating Mill, Addition for Vezin Sampler, Sample Mill, 

Erie Mine, General Drawing of Bunkhouse, 1924 Addition - Surface 

Buildings, DRG. No. B-19 

Erie Mine, Basement and Second Floor Plans, 1924 Addition to 

Bunkhouse - Surface Buildings, DRG. No. B-19 

Power Plant, Details of Roof Truss, Boiler Unit, PP-94 

Surface Structures, General Drawing, National Creek Flume, B-[?) 

Bonanza Tramway, Detail of Gear Wheel and Pinion, Tram Drive -

Angle Station, T-146 

Mother lode Mine, Standard Layout of Stations & Pockets, Mother 

Lode Incline, DRG. No. 3(0) 

Concentrating Mill, Alterations to Scale Pit, Track Scales - Loading 

Shed, C.M. 41 

Bonanza Mine, General Drawing of Skip Dump, Incline Shaft -

Above 500 Level, DRG No. M-15 

Jumbo Mine, General Layout of Station & Pockets, 2100 Level, 

DRG. No. M-12 

Fire Insurance Map, Bonanza Mine, Drg No G-5 

General Surface, Fire Insurance Map, Jumbo Mine, Drg No. G-4 

Surface Structures, General Darawing & Details, National Creek 

(Foot] Bridge, Drw No. B-15-2 

C ULTUR AL LA NDSCAP E REP ORT: K E N N E CO T T M I LL TOWN 
1932 

[1932] 

1932 

1933 

1933 

1937 

SEP 19, 1932 

[SEP ? , 1932] 

SEP OS, 1932 

JUN 10, 1933 

JUN 16, 1933 

FEB 04, 1937 

Undated Drawings 

Drawing No. 

6-[.J 

11-73-P 

APPENDIX J 

Storage Diagram, Basement, Kennecott Warehouse and Store, 

8-44-3 

[Storage Diagram, First Floor, Kennecott Warehouse and Store] 

Storage Diagram, Second Floor, Kennecott Warehouse and 

Store,[?] 

Copper River Tramway, General Drawing and Profile. Lower or 

East Terminal, Drg. No. 69-1 

Copper River Tramway, General Drawing and Detail, Tension 

Station, Drg. No. 69-2 

Mine Equipment, Sleeve for 1" Sectional Drill Steel, Drg. No. M147-1 

Description 

[Two elevations of undefined timbered structure, possibly related to a tramway 

or tramway bunker or elements of Mother Lode mine camp], Mother Lode 

Coalition Mines Co., Kennecott, Alaska 

Heine Safety Boiler Co., [Phoenixville, PA], Piping Plan for One Heine Boiler 

Made for Mother Lode Copper Mines Co., Alaska. 

Profile of Proposed [Bonanza] Wire Rope Tramway for Alaska Copper and 

Coal Co. (Angle Station Route) 

Drawings Referenced but not found: 

Drawing No. 

8-19 

8-19 

APPENDICES 

Description 

SURFACE BUILDINGS DRAWINGS 

Sheet No. 1 - General Drawing of [Erie Mine] Bunkhouse 

Sheet No. 3 - Details of Ash Pit - T-36-8 Jdeel [?) Boiler 
C.M. 108 

C.M. 109 

M. 16 

M. 108 

P.P. 64 

P.P. 65 

P.P. 66 

P.P. 67 

P.P. 68 

P.P. 69 

P.P. 70 

P.P. 71 

P.P. 72 

P.P. 74 

P.P. 86 

P.P. 90 

P.P. 92 

P.P. 93 

P.P. 104 

CONCENTRATING MILL DRAWINGS 

[Sample Mill], limber Foundation Drawing and Track Layout, [c. 1922] 

[Sample Mill], Roof Truss Details. [c. 1922) 

MINES 

Details of Skip Dump Above 500 Level, [Bonanza Mine, c. 1926] 

Details of Standard Shaft, Bonanza Mine [c. 1926] 

POWER PLANT DRAWINGS 

Foundation - Addition to Building [c. 1922/1924 ?] 

Foundation - Allis Chalmers Generator [c. 1922/1924 ?] 

Foundation - Gen. Electric Generator (c. 1922/1924 ?) 

Roof Truss and Details [c. 1922/1924 ?) 

Details of Crane Runway Girder [c. 1922/1924?) 

Plate Girder Details [c. 1922/1924?] 

Details of Roof Girder [ c. 1922/1924 ?J 

Retaining Wall for East Side of Building [c. 1922/1924?) 

Steel Details [c. 1922/1924?) 

Sections Through Building [c. 1922/1924?) 

General Drawing of Power Plant (c. 1924) 

Foundation Drawing of Diesel & Boiler Unit (c. 1924) 

Roof Truss, Diesel Unit (c. 1924] 

Roof Truss, Turbine Unit (c. 1924] 

Details of Steel Purlins [c. 1924] 

CULTURAL LANOSCAF'E REPORT : KENNECOTT M ILL T OWN 

• U .S. C.PO 200l •O•ftl·l'6