The Slana Roadhouse, on

Nabesna Road The Nabesna Road is a minor highway in the U.S. state of Alaska that extends from the Slana River to Nabesna, providing access to some interior components of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The entire length of the road is gravel and has few ...

Slana, Alaska Slana ( aht, Stl’ana’) is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Copper River Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population of the CDP was 116, down from 147 in 2010. History Slana ...

, in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area, is a historic site dating to 1928. The site was 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 ...

in 2005. The listing included four

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 ...

on . The roadhouse building is a log building about in dimension, and was built by homesteader Lawrence DeWitt in 1928 near the

Slana River The Slana River, also known as Slahna, Slakna, or Sla River, is a tributary of the Copper River in southern Alaska in the United States. It begins near Mount Kimball in the Alaska Range and flows generally south to meet the larger river near ...

. The building replaced a smaller, older roadhouse building. The community of Slana grew around it, and, in 2004, included a post office, an elementary school, stores, and more with a population of 50–100. and It was deemed significant of one of few surviving pre-World War II roadside stops that used to be located about 30 miles apart on the Nabesna Road and other remote roadways in Alaska. The roadhouse operated from 1928 to 1953 when the

Glenn Highway The Glenn Highway (part of Alaska Route 1) is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, extending from Anchorage near Merrill Field to Glennallen on the Richardson Highway. The Tok Cut-Off is often considered part of the Glenn Highway, for a tota ...

was relocated to about a mile away; in 2004 it was a residence of Lawrence DeWitt's son.

References

1928 establishments in Alaska Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Copper River Census Area, Alaska Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska Hotel buildings completed in 1928 Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska Log buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska {{Alaska-NRHP-stub

See also

References