Palmer Railroad Depot – Palmer AK

Description

The Palmer Depot is a historic train station built in 1935 to provide transportation to the Matanuska Valley Colony. The Alaska Railroad was the main means of transportation by which colonists arrived in the Matanuska Valley in 1935. A New Deal homesteading experiment, the Matanuska Valley Colony was established to foster economic growth and the development of agriculture in the new territory. Land plots in Matanuska Valley had been subdivided and open for homesteading starting with 1914. But the land was difficult to cultivate and economic growth between 1914 and 1935 turned out to be slower than expected. The land did not provide enough food for subsistence, and many farmers left for other areas. One of the main impediments to maintaining a stable agricultural production level in the valley was the lack of railroad infrastructure. The difficulty of transporting goods and equipment in and out of the area made farming unfeasible. Many homesteaders, however, filed land claims in the area hoping that the arrival of the railroad in the Valley would make the value of their land rise. When the railroad was built 6.5 miles from Palmer, and a branch extended to Palmer, many farmers took fee simple title to their claims.

Staring with 1935, the New Deal brought a completely new approach to resettlement in the Valley. A nomination form of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) describes the transformation of the area and the role of the Palmer Depot in the development of Palmer: “In 1935 a social experiment of the New Deal changed the course of the Valley. In May 1935 an armada of colonists, selected and subsidized by the federal government, arrived at Palmer to take claim to land as cooperative homesteaders. This was one of several social experiments at the time, in which government agencies planned and executed relocation of groups of people from an economically depressed environment to one in which, hopefully, they could establish an economically successful life, individually and as a community.

The activity resulting from establishment of this experimental community created the need for a transportation depot at this place on the railroad. The depot and warehouse structure was constructed in the fall of 1935 in response to this demand. The structure is physical evidence of the development of Palmer in consequence of the Matanuska Valley colonization of 1935.”

The same form describes the characteristics of the structure, which was included on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and was identified as a contributing property to Matanuska Colony Community Center in 1991. “The plan sheets for construction of the Alaska Railroad Depot at Palmer were approved on October 7 and November 1. 1935. It was designed as a combination depot and warehouse. In appearance its style differed only slightly from other functional structures built for the same purposes along the right-of-way of the railroad. While this structure is similar to many others, particularly to other depots, it is different in the materials of its construction.

This structure has no concrete base, such as that prepared for construction of the depot at Nenana in 1922. […] The total length of the building as constructed in 1935 was 93′ 10″. While the building was of functional design, its harmonious proportions related both to its function and to the image of a railroad.”

“During recent years, as the railroad use of the depot has decreased, the community has begun to use most of the building for organizational space and social events.“