- City:
- Palmer, AK
- Site Type:
- Resettlement Communities, Federal Facilities, Forestry and Agriculture
- New Deal Agencies:
- Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), Work Relief Programs
- Completed:
- 1935
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The Berry House is a farm house built in 1935 as part of the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corporation’s Matanuska Colony project. Representative of the frame colony farm house typology, the Berry house retains most of its original features and it has been minimally altered since it was built. The structure is located on the original colony tract.
A registration form of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) describes the characteristics of the structure: “The house is a one-and-one half story wood frame structure with a rectangular floor plan. It measures 30′ 6″ x 35′ 6″ with a 6′ x 14′ 11″ entryway porch on the west side. Drop siding sheaths the house and a north-south oriented gable roof caps the building. In 1971, a 10′ x 10′ entryway on the southeast corner of the house was extended the full length of the back wall (an additional 20’3″) to create space for a new kitchen. With the exception of a single pane picture window in the kitchen addition, all of the windows in the house are from 1935. The majority of the windows in the house are the standard 6/6 double-hung windows. There are a few fixed, multi-pane and a few fixed, single-pane windows in the house. The original colony doors have been replaced by metal doors. […]”
The same NRHP form includes a brief history of the house and its former owners: “Although known as the Berry House, James Berry was not the original colonist to live in the house. Clyde Cook drew the tract, #117, in the lottery held in May 1935. However, Cook was one of the first group of colonists to withdraw from the project, leaving on August 29, 1935. Arthur Bradley then lived in the house until November 2, 1935, when he left. The house remained vacant until James and Laura Berry moved in on October 2, 1936. They lived in the house for several years.”
Source notes
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Berry House, accessed on June 14, 2017. Wikipedia Page for Berry House, accessed on June 14, 2017.Site originally submitted by Brent McKee on June 15, 2017.
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