The Old Hometown Looks the Same

There’s plenty to do in Fairbanks. It has a genuine, old-fashioned sense of community. It’s the social and cultural center for much of Northern Alaska, and many Alaskans come here to shop, visit, and participate in traditional Native sports, music festivals, and art shows. Or even a mid-summer race, as in the photograph above.

Although there are some “big box” stores, Fairbanks is a 100% “Alaskan” town with a strong civic spirit.

E.T. Barnette Was in Luck

Low water levels on the Chena River were too much for a passing riverboat, and passenger E.T. Barnette was dumped on the riverbank at the site of this monument near the bridge across the Chena River.

Barnette went on to start a trading post. Only a year later, Felix Pedro struck gold 16 miles away, and Fairbanks was off and running. Here’s the monument to Barnette – on a clear day, (left), and on a day when smoke from forest fires from northern Alaska have swept into the city.

Gold Dredges of the North

There are still gold dredges that can be viewed in the northern part of the state.

Gold dredges were half-boat, half tractor. They roamed the gold-rich country tearing up the ground and hauling dirt into the machine with rows of iron buckets.

Inside, the rocks and dirt were tumbled, in a deafening roar, and the gold was separated out.

To make mining easier in Fairbanks, a 90-mile long “ditch” was built. It brought water from the Chatanika River to float the dredges. There were 6.13 miles of inverted siphons, crossing ridges and creeks.

The Davidson Ditch was a huge project for 1924 – a technological marvel rivaling today’s Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Sections of the pipe used in the ditch are still visible along the Steese Highway.

From Panama to Pioneer Park

The Davidson Ditch was built before the bulldozer was invented, with equipment from the Panama Canal.

This steamshovel, hauled from Panama, was later used to build the ditch.

The pipe used to build the ditch is around 48 inches in diameter, just like the Alaska Pipeline.

Naughty City

Like many Alaskan and Canadian gold rush towns, Fairbanks was awash in easy living.

Saloons, dance halls, and easy money were all available in Fairbanks.

So much so that other towns, including Valdez, at the end of the Fairbanks Trail, were quick to express their shock at what was going on up north.

In memory of its racy past, Fairbanks now has its own welcome wagon of dance hall floozies to amuse the public during Golden Days.

Red Light Cabins

Some of the cabins on display at Pioneer Park were owned by dance halls girls and ladies of the night who lived in Fairbanks in the gold rush.

Fairbanks Then & Now

Front Street in Fairbanks had dirt roads and boardwalks at the turn of the century.

Today, small historic cabins and other buildings have been salvaged from modern-day construction sites and arranged along a similar street pattern at Fairbanks’ Pioneer Park.

(Historic photo, Candy Waugaman)

Fairbanks’ Museums

The town of Fairbanks has at least nine museums – and counting.

Just as it’s worth stopping at visitor centers, museums offer an historic picture of the region you are traveling through.

What makes many of Alaska’s museums so much fun to visit is that they’re a good place to meet local historians. Almost every museum in Alaska is run by volunteers who are interested in discussing their communities and meeting travelers.

Pioneer Park - It's Free

Formerly known as “Alaskaland”, the Fairbanks Pioneer Park is worth the visit. It’s a great place to get out of the car and see something. There are boutiques and food vendors, as well as plenty of exhibits.

Ride the Train

You can take a ride on the newly renovated Crooked Creek Whiskey Island Train at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks.

The train tours the park.

On special occasions, the old Tanana Valley Railroad Engine #1, restored with the help of local train buffs, is also brought out for a spin around the park.

Harding's Train

Take a look at Warren G. Harding’s “Denali” car. It’s at Pioneer Park, and shows the opulence of the 1920’s.

The New UA Museum

One of the most popular destinations in Alaska, this Fairbanks museum offers real insight to your travels.

Exhibits feature a broad range of subjects. You can see stone tools, scrapers and arrowheads, wooden artifacts, snow beaters and toys – as well as ice age fossils, Russian-American exhibits, gold rush displays, Alaskan animals and birds, and information on the aurora borealis.

The museum has been completely renovated and has a new wing.

(Photo, University of Alaska)

Summer Events in Fairbanks

In a typical summer, there are the following celebrations. Check for details at the Vistor Center at Morris Thompson Cultural Center on Dunkel Street in Downtown.
Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau

June Music Festival, Pioneer Park.
(Folk, bluegrass)

June Midnight Sun Run (10k at UAF)

June Midnight Sun Festival (Live music downtown at Golden Heart Plaza)

June Midnight Sun Baseball

June Yukon 800 Boat Race on the Chena, Tanana & Yukon

July 4th Celebrations in North Pole & Pioneer Park in Fairbanks

July Summer Arts Festival (Singing, instrumental, visual arts at UAF)

July World Eskimo-Indian Olympics

July Golden Days

August Tanana Valley State Fair

August Sandhill Crane Festival

November Athabascan Fiddle Festival

A Riverboat Town

The steamboats you see in Fairbanks today are made especially for tourists.

They’re an offshoot of the gold rush of 1898, when riverboats plied the Tanana and Yukon River – a 2,000 mile round-trip that linked remote villagers, miners and trappers to the city.

The Riverboat Nenana, also known as “the last lady of the river,” is on display at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks.

The boat is 232 feet long and has a 42-foot beam and decks. It traveled Alaska’s rivers from 1933 to 1952.

First Miner's Relatives Given Keys to the City 100 Years Later

Felix Pedro, an Italian immigrant, found gold in 1902 near Fairbanks and sparked a gold rush.

His real name was not “Pedro” at all, but Pedroni. Fairbanks celebrated the centennial of Felix Pedro’s find by inviting six members of the Pedroni family from Fanano, Italy, to celebrate.

For 10 days, the modern-day Pedronis (plus the Fanano town mayor, city council, and other business people) were given the grand tour of Fairbanks. They panned for gold, went to Golden Days, saw concerts, traveled on a riverboat – and received the keys to the city.

They also met 53 members of the American branch of the Pedroni family, who had also traveled north for the event.

The Italians took home a moose hide burned with the scene of Felix Pedro finding gold. In exchange, Fanano donated a massive abstract sculpture to the Fairbanks city hall.

Dairy Farm Downtown Attracts Geese, Cranes and in Winter, Dog Mushers

Once a real working dairy, Creamer’s Field is now a migratory waterfowl refuge, located right in the middle of Fairbanks.

Up to 200,000 sandhill cranes use the Tanana Valley as a flyway. The birds stage at Creamer’s Field in early August.

One surprising aspect of Fairbanks is its rural nature. You can come here and take the self-guided walk of the trails at Creamer’s, including the “farm trail” and the “boreal forest trail.”

Tons of barley are spread on the field every year to lure waterfowl away from the runway of Fairbanks International Airport.

Take A Self-Guided Walking Tour

There are 38 stops along the walking tour of downtown Fairbanks.

It’ll take you along the Chena River, into the old “red light” district, and to the cemetery and major buildings downtown.

If you enjoy walking, you’ll also like Pioneer Park, which is closed to cars.

Summer In Fairbanks

The growing season is short and intense in Alaska.

Cold-weather crops like rhubarb, cabbage and lettuce grow easily outdoors. Warm-weather crops, like tomatoes and squash, are better coddled in greenhouses.

Most of the flowers in hanging baskets and gardens around Alaska are started in greenhouses, which make their living providing Alaskans with summer color.

Winter In Fairbanks

The northern lights are visible in winter throughout Alaska, but tourists worldwide come specifically to Fairbanks to see the aurora borealis.

Other winter activities typically include the November Athabascan Indian Fiddling Festival, the Winter Solstice, the February Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race, as well as ice carving, Native Arts Festival, Winter Carnival and Sled Dog Races, all in March.

Yukon Quest Dog Race

Considered even more grueling than the famed Iditarod Sled Dog Race, the Yukon Quest runs between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, changing starting points every other year.

The February 1,000 mile race is billed “the toughest in the world.” Some checkpoints are 200 miles apart.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline

The Pipeline runs from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean south to Fairbanks and down along the Richardson Highway to Valdez.

Work started on the Pipeline in 1974, and ended in 1977. The project is 800 miles long, and crosses three mountain ranges – the Brooks Range, the Alaska Range, and the Chugach Range. There are pump stations along the way.

The 48” diameter pipe can handle around 47,000 gallons of oil a minute, traveling at 6 miles per hour.

There are pipeline viewing points on the Richardson Highway. This one, on the Steese, just north of Fairbanks, is very popular. The silver exterior that you see is not the pipe itself, but an insulated heat shield.

The pipe rests on Teflon-coated bars so that it can move during earthquakes.