- 1929

An Alaska Washington Airways Pontoon plane on the dock with a young man posed on one of the pontoons, 5-15-29. Alaska State Library, George A. Parks Photo Collection, P240-257.

Making the first non-stop flight from Seattle to Alaska, the five-passenger seaplane Juneau, a 432-E Lockheed Vega owned by Washington-Alaska Airways Company, arrived April 15 in Juneau.  Planes, personnel, and support vessels arrived May 31 to continue the U.S. Navy’s Alaska Air Mapping Expedition to map Southeastern Alaska, a continuation of work done in the 1926 season. A private flying school using an old Army airplane opened in May, using the tide flats by the Alaska Dairy for an airfield.

Ground was broken September 12 for construction of the Federal and Territorial Building (now the state capitol). The Juneau Chamber of Commerce worked with non-voting Congressional Delegate Dan Sutherland and the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department to bring about the use of Alaska marble in the construction of the Federal Building here. Fritz Cove section of the Glacier Highway opened for traffic June18.

The new U. S. Customs Office at the mouth of the Taku River opened in August on a barge anchored near Taku Glacier. Many prospectors were heading up the river to the Tulsequah River area where a minor rush was on to stake gold and silver claims there. The Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Co. produced around $3.5 million in the year 1929, about $300,000 more than last year. [1928 was the first year to show a profit for the company, formed in 1897].

The Juneau City Council made arrangements with property owners to begin paving streets in the downtown area between Front and Third streets. Radio broadcast station KFIU, operated by the Alaska Electric Light & Power Company, was again ready in late December to broadcast programs after being off the air for some time. A new transmitter was installed and licensed to operate at any hour of the day or night.

Members of the Filipino community met March 31 to organize the Filipino Club.  The inaugural meeting, which featured many interesting speeches and the election of officers, was termed a great success. Mink ranchers of the Mendenhall Valley organized the Alaska-Yukon Mink Association December 7. There were said to be at least 20 mink ranches in Southeast Alaska, 10 of them in Mendenhall Valley.