If these walls could talk, they would have endless stories to tell. They would tell of love, friendship, struggles and overcoming long winters, and all those unique tales from the early days of Palmer and the Colony Project.
Built in 1935, the Trading Post was designed with the assistance of notable Texas architect, David R. Williams, who worked with Harry K. Wolfe and Leo Jacobs. The Trading Post was to serve as the commissary and grocery store for the new colony, within Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. The project resettled many Midwestern families, hit especially hard by the Great Depression, to the fertile Matanuska Valley, in an attempt to help families start a new life in the Territory of Alaska. These families labored to clear and cultivate their land in order to eventually sell to markets in the Mat-Su Valley and Anchorage.
The Trading Post, as it was known from 1935 to the beginning of WWII, bustled with activity when the commissary/grocery store opened in 1936. In that first year only, instead of U.S. dollars the government issued scrip, called bingles, monthly to the new colonists. The amount distributed was based on the size of their family.
The south entrance of the Trading Post faced the incredible views of Pioneer Peak, Twin Peaks and the Chugach Range. The setting was near perfect.
By late 1938 and into 1939, the colonists began selling their produce in the government run Co-op. In 1939, the government turned over the operation of the Co-op and it moved to the other side of Dahlia Street to the Creamery Warehouse Building. During this time some farmers, such as Walter Pippel, were discontented about the prices being offered for their produce. Pippel took care to clean, prune, grade and package his produce. He felt it was unfair to receive the same price for his produce as someone who just took their dirty, unkempt, unpacked, ungraded produce to the Co-op.
After WWII the Trading Post became known as the Co-op Recreational Hall. From there it changed hands, names and uses many times. From 1935 to 1970, the Co-op Recreation Hall was home to two non-profit organizations, four eateries, seven doctor’s offices, one religious denomination, three governmental offices, the Palmer Library, one department store, ten beauty/barber shops (some with public showers), two retail stores, one realty office, two shoe repair businesses, a bus depot, a credit union, recreation-related businesses, and various clubs such as an amateur radio club and a sportsmen’s club with a shooting gallery in the basement.
In the early nineties, the building became vacant, soon dilapidated and condemned. Former Palmer Mayor Delena Johnson, at the time a private business woman, purchased the building in hopes of restoring it. She wanted to see one of Palmer’s treasured pieces of history returned to its former glory. With much planning and timely help, a complete overhaul began.
Extensive work had to be done so Delena called upon Greenstreet General Contracting to lift the building in order for the walls and footers to be reconstructed. With much resolve and a long-term vision, the building came back to life.
Currently, the Palmer City Alehouse resides in the original Trading Post building. The restaurant has brought a lively scene to a beautiful and historic setting. By partnering with local vendors such as Arkose Brewery, Alaska Artisan Coffee and VanderWeele Farms, restaurant owner, Matt Tomter, has made a successful business that purchases a very large amount of its products from valley vendors—fulfilling a purpose much like that of the old Trading Post.
Some say the Colony Project was a failure, some a success. It really depends on how you look at it. A failure could be the many families who promptly left because of perceived deplorable conditions and inadequate management of the project from the federal level. A success could be that a population remained—hearty souls who left poverty and a bleak future to set sail on their dreams and ideas, and thrived in one of the most spectacular settings in the world. Regardless, we are left with jewels from that era of resolve and determination and what they produced is invaluable to us today.
While the name has changed, the spirit of the Trading Post lives on. On a warm sunny day outside, with musicians on stage playing, people relax at tables on the porch or in the grass while some stand by chatting or playing yard games on the lawn. You are quickly taken back to the purpose of the Trading Post, a place where the community gathers.
Thank you to Kelly Turney of Alaska Picker and Joe and Cheryl Homme for helping put together some of the historical information for this article.
If these walls could talk, they would have endless stories to tell. They would tell of love, friendship, struggles and overcoming long winters, and all those unique tales from the early days of Palmer and the Colony Project.
Built in 1935, the Trading Post was designed with the assistance of notable Texas architect, David R. Williams, who worked with Harry K. Wolfe and Leo Jacobs. The Trading Post was to serve as the commissary and grocery store for the new colony, within Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. The project resettled many Midwestern families, hit especially hard by the Great Depression, to the fertile Matanuska Valley, in an attempt to help families start a new life in the Territory of Alaska. These families labored to clear and cultivate their land in order to eventually sell to markets in the Mat-Su Valley and Anchorage.
The Trading Post, as it was known from 1935 to the beginning of WWII, bustled with activity when the commissary/grocery store opened in 1936. In that first year only, instead of U.S. dollars the government issued scrip, called bingles, monthly to the new colonists. The amount distributed was based on the size of their family.
The south entrance of the Trading Post faced the incredible views of Pioneer Peak, Twin Peaks and the Chugach Range. The setting was near perfect.
By late 1938 and into 1939, the colonists began selling their produce in the government run Co-op. In 1939, the government turned over the operation of the Co-op and it moved to the other side of Dahlia Street to the Creamery Warehouse Building. During this time some farmers, such as Walter Pippel, were discontented about the prices being offered for their produce. Pippel took care to clean, prune, grade and package his produce. He felt it was unfair to receive the same price for his produce as someone who just took their dirty, unkempt, unpacked, ungraded produce to the Co-op.
After WWII the Trading Post became known as the Co-op Recreational Hall. From there it changed hands, names and uses many times. From 1935 to 1970, the Co-op Recreation Hall was home to two non-profit organizations, four eateries, seven doctor’s offices, one religious denomination, three governmental offices, the Palmer Library, one department store, ten beauty/barber shops (some with public showers), two retail stores, one realty office, two shoe repair businesses, a bus depot, a credit union, recreation-related businesses, and various clubs such as an amateur radio club and a sportsmen’s club with a shooting gallery in the basement.
In the early nineties, the building became vacant, soon dilapidated and condemned. Former Palmer Mayor Delena Johnson, at the time a private business woman, purchased the building in hopes of restoring it. She wanted to see one of Palmer’s treasured pieces of history returned to its former glory. With much planning and timely help, a complete overhaul began.
Extensive work had to be done so Delena called upon Greenstreet General Contracting to lift the building in order for the walls and footers to be reconstructed. With much resolve and a long-term vision, the building came back to life.
Currently, the Palmer City Alehouse resides in the original Trading Post building. The restaurant has brought a lively scene to a beautiful and historic setting. By partnering with local vendors such as Arkose Brewery, Alaska Artisan Coffee and VanderWeele Farms, restaurant owner, Matt Tomter, has made a successful business that purchases a very large amount of its products from valley vendors—fulfilling a purpose much like that of the old Trading Post.
Some say the Colony Project was a failure, some a success. It really depends on how you look at it. A failure could be the many families who promptly left because of perceived deplorable conditions and inadequate management of the project from the federal level. A success could be that a population remained—hearty souls who left poverty and a bleak future to set sail on their dreams and ideas, and thrived in one of the most spectacular settings in the world. Regardless, we are left with jewels from that era of resolve and determination and what they produced is invaluable to us today.
While the name has changed, the spirit of the Trading Post lives on. On a warm sunny day outside, with musicians on stage playing, people relax at tables on the porch or in the grass while some stand by chatting or playing yard games on the lawn. You are quickly taken back to the purpose of the Trading Post, a place where the community gathers.
Thank you to Kelly Turney of Alaska Picker and Joe and Cheryl Homme for helping put together some of the historical information for this article.
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Inspired at a young age, Cecil has turned his love of photography into a lifestyle and a business, with a desire to capture the beauty and character of wherever his camera takes him. Always primed to set off on a new adventure, Cecil and his wife, Anne, have spent their eleven years of marriage going on road trips, touring Alaska and the country, and planning ahead to their next destination. Cecil has combined his artist's perspective and aptitude for design in order to contribute his talents to the collaborative effort of bringing Last Frontier Magazine into a reality.
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