The Central House, also known as Erickson & Stade's, at Mile 128 on the

Steese Highway The Steese Highway (known as the Steese Expressway within Fairbanks) is a highway in the Interior region of the U.S. state of Alaska that extends from Fairbanks to Circle, a town on the Yukon River about 50 miles (80 km) south of the Arc ...

Central, Alaska Central is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 96, down from 134 in 2000. Every February, Central hosts a checkpoint for the long-distance Yukon Quest sled dog ...

, was a log structure built in 1926 by Riley Erickson and John Stade, replacing an 1894 log and sod structure that was burned in a 1925 fire. It served as a roadhouse restaurant and hotel, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Located on Crooked Creek, it was deemed significant for its historical role as a central focus for miners of other creeks that were Birch Creek tributaries and for serving travelers. The building was about in dimension, and the main logs are

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

joined by saddle corners. The roof was dirt-insulated and covered with galvanized metal roofing. In 1978, the lower three courses of logs of the walls were pretty well rotted, due to frequent creek flooding, and the building was decaying rapidly. The building has eventually collapsed and its remains are still visible along

, shortly east of Crooked Creek bridge. It was reached by a wagon road of the Alaska Road Commission in 1908.Alaska.Com: Central, Alaska
/ref> It was closed as a business in 1948 or 1949. In 1977, the Circle District Historical Society had plans to rebuild it and to use it as an historic museum and library, as well as a meeting place and community center. and Its preservation was hoped to remind locals, who had known miners 50 years before, "of the spirit, fortitude, and hope of an earlier time."

References

1926 establishments in Alaska Houses completed in 1926 Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Unused buildings in Alaska Log buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska {{YukonKoyukukAK-geo-stub

See also

References