Peek at the Past: As it appeared in the Oct. 15, 1953, Frontiersman

Bore through Eklutna Tunnel

A momentous occasion occurred this morning at 1:49 a.m. when drillers of the Palmer Constructors holed through the approximately 4.6-mile long tunnel boring through Goat Mountain in the Chugach range, to Eklutna Lake, where the multimillion dollar Eklutna hydroelectric project is being developed under the direction of the department of interior, bureau of reclamation.

L.F. Wiley, project engineer, said this morning the tunnel heads lined up within one-half inch of each other when the final hole-through was made.

Valley leads Alaska in record spud crop

Alaska farmers have completed harvesting the largest potato crop ever produced in the Territory, according to the Alaska Department of Agriculture, who with Dick Andrews of the Experiment Station staff has completed a preliminary production survey of the railbelt area.

According to the report, Matanuska Valley growers produced 6,100 tons of potatoes.

Anchorage growers 900 tons an the Tanana Valley growers 2,500 tons for a total of 9,500 tons.

At the Co-Op Trading Post, you could get everything from an ice cream cone to a new Goodyear Double Eagle battery.

At McKinley Park Hotel in what is now Denali National Park, room rates were $12.50 for a "room with a bath, including meals" and $11.50 for a room without a bath.

Hartley Motors had a 1953 Nash Rambler with 10,000 miles on it listed for $2,495 and a new Ford Consul with "a radio and a heater" for $2,161.

Charlton Heston and Errol Flynn were starring on the big screen during the early 1950s.