• Chief Shakes Historic Site - Wrangell, AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the Chief Shakes Historic Site in 1940 on a 0.704 acre tract of land located on Shakes Island in Wrangell Harbor. The park was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. At the center of the park is a 1940 replica of an early 19th Century Tlingit community house. Nine totem poles surround the house—a Sealion Prince, Kadashan Red Snapper, Kadashan Crane, Underwater Grizzly, Three Frogs, Bear Up Mountain, and Sea Serpent. Seven of these totems poles are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals....
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Bear Up Mountain Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Bear Up Mountain Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Clan House - Wrangell AK
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the Chief Shakes Historic Site in 1940 on an acre of land located on Shakes Island in Wrangell. The clan house is a 1940 replica of an early 19th Century Tlingit community house. The house is surrounded by nine totem poles and it contains two posts that represent two killer whale fins. A 1970 nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places describes the formal qualities of the structure: “A central square fire pit is the focus of the structure's interior. The fire pit is surrounded by a planked platform that would have...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Kadashan Crane Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Kadashan Crane Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of their...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Kadashan Red Snapper Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Kadashan Red Snapper Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Kicksetti Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Kicksetti Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. A small copy of the Kicksetti Pole was sent to President Roosevelt in 1940 by the Tlingit carvers from Wrangell. Harry Corser describes the symbolic meaning of the Kicksetti Totem motifs in his 1910...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Killer Whale Totem - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Killer Whale Totem in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of their restoration,...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Raven Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Raven Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Harry Corser describes the symbolic meaning of the Raven Pole motifs in his 1910 volume, Totem Lore of the Alaska Indians. “The totem is surmounted by the Raven Creator. On the older poles he is...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Sea Lion Prince Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Sea Lion Prince Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Sea Serpent Pole - Wrangell AK
     Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Sea Serpent Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of their...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Sun Totem Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Sun Totem Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of their...
  • Chief Shakes Historic Site, Three Frogs Pole - Wrangell AK
    Tlingit craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) restored the Three Frogs Pole in 1940. The restoration was part of a larger U.S. Forest Service program focused on the restoration of totems and Native cultural assets. Seven of the poles surrounding the Clan House at the Chief Shakes Historic Site are reproductions of older poles, while two are originals. All were carved in 1940 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Part of the photographic material published on this page by the Living New Deal was provided by courtesy of Linn A. Forrest (1905-1986), a practicing architect who photographed the totem poles at the time of their...
  • Post Office - Wrangell AK
    The historic U.S. Post Office and Customs House in Wrangell, Alaska was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which was completed in 1942, houses an example of New Deal artwork and is still in use today.
  • Post Office Mural - Wrangell AK
    The historic post office in Wrangell, Alaska houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Old Town in Alaska," commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Austin Mecklem and Marianne Appel (husband and wife) painted the Wrangell mural in 1943 in NY state. It was shipped via railway on Oct 19, 1943 and arrived in Wrangell AK early December 1943. A telegram dated October 20, 1943 stated the Mr. Arnold Prusi installed the mural the previous week."
  • Reservoir - Wrangell AK
    Public Works Administration (PWA) project 4484 funded a new reservoir for Wrangell with a $32,000 loan and a $$12,487 grant approved 6/20/1934. Construction began 2/7/1935 and was completed 8/2/1936. Art Anderson was awarded the bid for the new water dam to be constructed of timber with dirt and rock fill. The completed dam would result in a “reservoir of 36 acre feed” (Art Anderson, Petersburg Press, Feb. 8, 1935, p. 1). Foreman of construction was Oden Jensen.
  • Storage Dam and Street Improvements - Wrangell AK
    The Works Progress Administration contributed $12,714 toward improvements to a storage dam and several streets in Wrangell, Alaska, between 1939 and 1940.