The Coal Creek Historic Mining District (

Hän The Hän, Han or Hwëch'in / Han Hwech’in (meaning "People of the River, i.e. Yukon River", in English also Hankutchin) are a First Nations people of Canada and an Alaska Native Athabaskan people of the United States; they are part of the At ...

: ''Zhùr näddhä`ww juu'') is a gold-mining area in the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

dating from the 1930s. It features a

gold dredge A gold dredge is a placer mining machine that extracts gold from sand, gravel, and dirt using water and mechanical methods. The original gold dredges were large, multi-story machines built in the first half of the 1900s. Small suction machin ...

and a supporting community of several dozen buildings, established by mining entrepreneur Ernest Patty. The listed area includes the last of Coal Creek before the

Yukon River The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...

, where, at the mouth, the roadhouse Slaven's Cabin is included. It includes two former locations and the current location of the gold dredging operation. It includes 26

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

and 12

contributing structures In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

and three

contributing sites In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

. The architecture is strictly functional, besides the roadhouse. The district contains buildings, structures, a dredge, water system, tailings piles, and other mine engineering sites and objects that together represent Alaskan dredge mining operations of the 1930s. The majority of buildings and structures were built between 1934 and 1940. The mining camp has been moved twice from its original site. The design, materials, and construction of the buildings all reflect the utilitarian and remote nature of the camp. Except for Slaven's Roadhouse, workmanship is strictly functional: competent but uninspired. Nothing detracts from the feeling of a remote placer mining operation of the 20th century. The district contains 26 contributing buildings, 3 sites, and 12 structures. The noncontributing items include 5 buildings and 2 structures. In 1941, the camp was apparently moved from its original location near the mouth of Cheese Creek to a hillside location near Snare Creek, and in 1952 to the present location at Beaton Pup. The original camp site was dredged over in 1941. The creek has since changed channels and today flows through a portion of the first site. The dredge is the most significant relic in the district. It is a medium-sized diesel-powered floating dredge. It was built by the Walter W. Johnson Company of

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

and shipped in pieces to

Skagway The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with ...

, then by rail to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory and by barge down the

. The encampment moved three times. It was first established near the mouth of Cheese Creek in 1934, then moved to a location near Snare Creek in 1941. The final move brought it to its present location at Beaton Pup. The first site has not survived, having been dredged over. The second site has been altered by changes in the course of the creek. The Frank Slaven Roadhouse, separately listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, is nearby and is included in the district. The third camp survives nearly intact, with its equipment and historic context preserved. The placer operation was managed by mining engineer Ernest Patty, who arrived in Alaska in 1922 and had become an instructor at the

University of Alaska The University of Alaska System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was created in 1917 and comprises three separately accredited universities on 19 campuses. The system serves nearly 30,000 full- and part-time stud ...

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

. Patty was to return to what had become the University of Alaska in 1953 as president of the university, retiring in 1960.

Contributing Properties

The main contributing properties to the historic districts are: * The Slaven's Cabin, , AHRS# CHR-030, built 1928-1930. * The historic road along Coal Creek, . * The trailing piles, . * The dredge, built 1935. * The Coal Creek Mining Camp, comprising 21 contributing buildings, , built 1936-1941. * The cabin ruins along Snare Creek, . * The ditch, and its intercept with Coal Creek built in 1935. * The Cheese Creek Camp, , AHRS# CHR-094, built 1936-1941.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve Geography of Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Gold mining in Alaska Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska Mines in Alaska Yukon River Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Hän

Contributing Properties

See also

References