STILL KNIKING

KNIK — A century before Wasilla, Palmer and Houston became the focal point of a modern Valley population explosion, the area’s original boomtown was a happening place.

Knik sprouted roots in the Upper Cook Inlet in the 1890s as a hub for trailheads leading to the state’s rich mining industry. Gold was the magnet that drew adventure- and treasure-seekers north, said Arlene Stephl, secretary of the Knik Historical Society Board of Directors. In its heyday, Knik was bustling with activity on four docks and supported a community of 1,500 people. More than 50 commercial buildings made up the center of town with more than 300 homes in the surrounding area.

Restaurants, bakeries, general stores and bars were the focal point of Knik, including George Parks’ mercantile store and the Alaska Commercial Co., Stephl said. In 1910, the town found a new source of entertainment when the pool hall opened. A century later, the old pool hall is still entertaining Knik visitors as the historic Knik Museum.

Come Sunday, local residents and the historical society will celebrate the building’s 100th birthday, along with the centennial anniversary of the old Iditarod Trail, which was an important supply route for miners of the time.

“It was a trailhead for the winter dogsleds and the summer wagon trail to the mining areas,” Stephl said. “There was a pretty large town there by 1900. It was the first real settlement (in Southcentral). It was the settlement.”

Decades before Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal Matanuska Colony was established in the Valley, Knik was putting on a good show, she said. Along with the muddy streets and boardwalks, many building owners put up false fronts to make them look taller. Supplies were funneled north by boat, foot, wagon and dogsled.

Knik met its demise in 1917 when the Alaska Railroad put in a line to Wasilla, which prompted Knik businesses to migrate to the new town along with most of the residents. Coal mining in the Sutton area in the 1940s was the finale for Knik.

Although it’s going on a century since Knik held any economic importance, its short but vibrant history kick-started what’s been more than 100 years of growth for the Valley, Stephl said. And the stories and tall tales of rugged Alaska living never grow old, she said.

Gossip was the news of the day in Knik, like the story of a local prostitute called The Black Bear and her companion, who robbed a gold shipment. Whether they were ever caught is unknown.

“Oh, my gosh, I think anybody who was born and raised here has stories from grandparents of what it was like at that time,” she said. “Everybody worked and they worked hard. There was no Wal-Mart where you could go buy frozen food and stick it in the microwave.”

There are still a few remnants left as reminders of Knik’s heyday and place in local history, including the original Fulton and Hirshey Pool and Billiard Hall. The building was converted into the Knik Museum and Mushers Hall of Fame in 1967.

“When you drive down there you can see a few of the old buildings, and that’s about it,” she said. But the museum is still going strong, its mission to keep the history of Knik alive.

When she visits the museum, Stephl said she often looks out toward the inlet and imagines the busy town that once was there.

“I would think about how there would’ve been boats coming in and anchored there, people hauling freight in and up to the mines,” she said. “A lot of labor was involved. Supplies were being brought in.”

Stephl and the Knik Historical Society invite the public to relive one of the most colorful and important eras of Valley history from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the museum, Mile 13.9 Knik-Goose Bay Road. Bring a potluck dish to share and enjoy presentations from descendants of the Fulton family, which built the pool hall, and the Iditarod Trail Committee about the 100-year anniversary of the trail. At 3 p.m. there will be a ceremonial postal delivery of commemorative envelopes by dogsled. At 4 p.m., there will be a raffle drawing for two round-trip tickets by train to Seward, then all are invited to join in an archaeological dig at the old townsite.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.