Tag: log cabin

The Sunday porch: Wiseman, Alaska

Cindy at enclos*ureLeave a comment

An encore porch from 2013. . .
Igloo No. 8 by Jet Lowe, Library of CongressFront porch, near the Koyukuk River at Wiseman Creek, Wiseman, Alaska, July 1984, by Jet Lowe for an Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (all photos here).

For over six decades, this little porch sheltered many hours of masculine conviviality. In 1913, it fronted the Siverly and Bowker Saloon.  The following year, the building was sold to a fraternal organization, Pioneers of Alaska, and then used as one of its local chapters — an “Igloo;” it was Igloo No. 8.

By 1972, the building had been sold again.  At the time of these photos, it was the home of the owner’s son.

Igloo No. 8, HABS, Library of CongressAbove: the back porch and entrance to the kitchen.

Igloo #8, HABS, Library of CongressAbove: the side view.

Vintage landscape: front walk

Cindy at enclos*ure1 Comment

Alaska cabin, Library of CongressLog cabin in Alaska, probably Fairbanks, between 1900 and 1916, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The photograph is one of over sixteen thousand created or collected by Frank G. Carpenter and his daughter Frances to illustrate his geography textbooks and popular travel books.

There are three more charming Alaska log cabins from the same collection here, here, and here.

The Sunday porch: pots and pans

Cindy at enclos*ure1 Comment

Girl on Porch, D. Ullman, Library of Congress“Girl seated at the end of a porch,” ca. 1930, by Doris Ulmann, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

A well-to-do New Yorker, Doris Ulmann trained as an art photographer with Clarence H. White in the 1910s. In the 1920s, she began traveling to the southeastern United States to photograph rural people, particularly in the hills of Kentucky and the Sea Islands of South Carolina — people “for whom life had not been a dance.” She also documented Appalachian folk arts and crafts, working with musician and folklorist John Jacob Niles.

Vintage landscape: flowers and cabbages

Cindy at enclos*ure1 Comment

“A cottage & garden, Alaska,” ca. 1909-1920. By National Photo Company, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

A similar photo of this cottage was labeled “a sourdough’s home.” The word ‘sourdough’ was slang in Alaska for an oldtimer, probably from the Klondike gold rush.  You can click on the image to enlarge it.

                        O cabbage gardens
summer’s elegy
                        sunset survived
— Susan Howe, from “Cabbage Gardens”