Historic Building Survey - City and Borough of Juneau

In 1900, the District Court movedfrom Sitka to Juneau. and used rented quarters until 1904
when a new court houseand jail were built at the site of the present State Office Building. The
executive offices moved from Sitka to Juneau in 1906. In 1912, Alaska was granted Territorial
status and the first territorial legislature was convened. As the mining activities slowed,
territorial and federal government offices continued to grow in importance and replaced the
mining companies as the chief industry of Juneau.
Neighborhood growth was engendered by the large mining companies andthe government alike
and areas such as Chicken Ridge began to be settled. The area known as the Chicken Ridge
Neighborhood, which overlooks the city of Juneau proper and is bounded by Gold Creek,
Calhoun Avenue, Basin Road, and runs parallel to Sixth Street, was so named by miners because
of the abundance of Ptarmigan in the area.. It was located as a hill placer claim in May of 1890
by.five men, one of whom was John F. Maloney, who was to eventually make his home on the
ridge. The neighborhood which developed on Chicken Ridge was first settled in 1893.
During this period of gold mining expansion in the form of large mining companies and the
subsequent expansion of Juneau's role in territorial government, the need for living space
increased the pressure to extend settlement in Juneau. An affluent socio-economic class
comprised of Juneau's attorneys, doctors,business owners, mining executives, government
employees, and politicians settled the Chicken Ridge neighborhood.
The architectural development of the area was limited by geography. The shipment ofan entire
building to Juneau by George Pilz anticipated the future of architecture in Juneau. Because of
the location. of the city, building materials were scarce and so were skilled craftsmen to do the
work. Most buildings were modest interpretations of national stylistic trends which varied only
according to the amount of detailing and square footage which could be afforded by the
individual owner.
The SoutheastRegion of Alaska was a region explored because of the possibility of great riches
and eventually settled because these possibilities proved to be true. The Russians came for fur
and established a strong grip on the area. After the United States purchased Alaska, prospectors
searched for gold and found it in many places, including Juneau. It was this pattern of
exploration and settlement which led to the founding ofJuneau, Alaska. When the gold ran out,
the city continued to thrive as a center for Territorial government. The success of the mining
industry and the transfer of Territorial government to Juneau fostered population growth. This
population was composed not only of miners and government officials, but of entrepreneurs,
doctors, lawyers, and others that invariably arrive at the beginning of a new town's birth. As
a result, neighborhoods such as working class Starr Hill, Mendenhall Valley, Casey Shattuck,
Telephone Hill, and white collar Chicken Ridge were established.
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