Site Logo
This is the only known photograph of Rex Hanks, seen here with his wife, Irmgard, next to their two-story home in Happy Valley—circa 1950s. (Photo courtesy of Katie Matthews)

Life

A Kind and Sensitive Man: The Rex Hanks Story — Part 3

After working and searching for a couple of months, he found property that pleased him near the waterfall…

Photo by Clark Fair In the summer of 2016, this was all that remained of Rex Hanks’s original homestead cabin, located just above the waterfall on Happy Creek.

Life

A Kind and Sensitive Man: The Rex Hanks Story — Part 2

By the end of 1958, the little graveyard’s inhabitants numbered four.

Nell and Homer Crosby were early homesteaders in Happy Valley. Although they had left the area by the early 1950s, they sold two acres on their southern line to Rex Hanks. (Photo courtesy of Katie Matthews)

Life

A Kind and Sensitive Man: The Rex Hanks Story — Part 1

The main action of this story takes place in Happy Valley, located between Anchor Point and Ninilchik on…

What are almost certainly members of the Grönroos family pose in front of their Anchor Point home in this undated photograph courtesy of William Wade Carroll. The cabin was built in about 1903-04 just north of the mouth of the Anchor River.

Life

Fresh Start: The Grönroos Family Story— Part 2

The five-member Grönroos family immigrated from Finland to Alaska in 1903 and 1904

The Canadian steamship Princess Victoria collided with an American vessel, the S.S. Admiral Sampson, which sank quickly in Puget Sound in August 1914. (Otto T. Frasch photo, copyright by David C. Chapman, “O.T. Frasch, Seattle” webpage)

Life

Fresh Start: The Grönroos Family Story — Part 1

The Grönroos family settled just north of the mouth of the Anchor River

This trio of images appeared in the January 1942 edition of Alaska Life magazine, in an article entitled “The Mayor of Seward Builds a Dream House for $2,000!” To the left and right are interior views of the Benson home. The center photograph shows W.R. Benson and his dog near the front gate of his yard.

Life

Hometown Booster: The W.R. Benson Story — Part 3

William Raymond “W.R.” Benson was certainly not shy about sharing either his beliefs or his ideas

document from ancestry.com William Raymond “W.R.” Benson’s draft-registration card from 1942 reveals that he was 52 years old, living in Seward and self-employed. His wife, Mable, is listed as a person who will always know his address.

Life

Hometown Booster: The W.R. Benson Story — Part 2

W.R. Benson was a mover and a shaker throughout his life, but particularly so in Alaska

William Raymond “W.R.” Benson (front row, far right) poses along with the rest of the Sigma Nu fraternity at Albion College in Michigan in about 1908. Despite a lifetime spent in the public eye, Benson was apparently seldom captured on film. This image is one of the few photos of him known to exist. (photo from the 1908 Albion College yearbook via ancestry.com)

Life

Hometown Booster: The W.R. Benson Story — Part 1

W.R. Benson was a man almost constantly in motion

In the early 2020s, the extended Keeler clan continues on the southern Kenai Peninsula, with (far right) Vikki, the daughter of Ina (Keeler) and Spek Jones, her son Brad and his infant son Hugh. At left is Spek Jones and his mother Nelda Jones. Photo courtesy of the Keeler Family Collection.

Life

Keeler Clan of the Kenai — Part 8

Three siblings from the Keeler family of Oregon came to the Kenai Peninsula to live between 1947 and…

Floyd “Pappy” Keeler, standing in 1951 in front of his cabin on the homestead of his son Jack, is holding a girl who is likely Barbara Sandstrom, while her sister Rhoda, standing by a truck, looks on. Ray Sandstrom photo courtesy of the KPC historical photo archive.

Life

Keeler Clan of the Kenai — Part 7

Speculation was rife after the younger brother of Floyd Nelson Keeler went missing

Virgil Dahler photo courtesy of the KPC historical photo archive This aerial view from about 1950 shows Jack Keeler’s home on his homestead east of Soldotna. The stream to the left is Soldotna Creek, and the bridge across the stream probably allowed early access to the Mackey Lakes area. The road to the right edge of the photo leads to the Sterling Highway.

Life

Keeler Clan of the Kenai — Part 6

“Most of those homesteaders won’t last”

Photo courtesy of Al Hershberger Don and Verona pose inside their first Soldotna grocery store in 1952, the year they opened for business.

Life

Keeler Clan of the Kenai — Part 5

By 1952, the Wilsons constructed a simple, rectangular, wood-frame building and started the town’s first grocery

Members of the Keeler family and some Anchor Point church members get a ride on Jimmy Elliot’s “mud sled” on the way to services at the Elliot home, circa 1956. Lorna Keeler is sitting on the far-left side of the sled. April Keeler is the middle girl of the trio sitting in back, and Larry Keeler is standing behind those girls. (Photo courtesy of the Pratt Museum)

Life

Keeler Clan of the Kenai — Part 4

Lawrence and Lorna Keeler and their family moved from Oregon to Alaska in June 1948 and began building…

Brothers James (left) and Lawrence Keeler with their Kissel car, circa 1910s. Both brothers enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight in World War I. James was killed in battle. Photo courtesy of the Keeler Family Collection.

Life

Keeler Clan of the Kenai — Part 3

Lorna Keeler had a well-deserved reputation for being the bachelor’s friend in time of need

Louvie “Vi” Chapman photo courtesy of the Pratt Museum This cottonwood-log structure was Anchor Point’s first-ever school, located on the south side of the Anchor River. It was replaced with a better school on the north side, on property donated by Sherman and Louvie Chapman. Seen here are the first teacher, Helen Smith, and some of her students, including Larry Keeler standing next to Smith.

Life

Keeler Clan of the Kenai — Part 2

On Aug. 3, 1948, Lawrence and Lorna made their official move from Kenai to Anchor Point aboard a…

Some of the Keelers assembled with family matriarch Samantha (second from left) in this 1952 photograph taken in Oregon. Others, L-R: George, Lawrence with wife Lorna, daughter April and son Larry, and Floyd, also known as “Uncle Shorty.” Photo courtesy of the Keeler Family Collection.

Life

Keeler Clan of the Kenai — Part 1

This is the story of the Keelers who came to the Kenai

Rex Edwards experimented with many activities, including fencing, for the students at the school in Seldovia. In the 1973-74 school year, he even attempted to coach football, even though the only “field” available was the beach. Here are the “Seldovia Retreaters” as they appeared in the school’s 1974 yearbook.

Life

First in the Pool — Part 2

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is the second part of a two-part story about former teachers Rex and Beverly Edwards…

The village of Seldovia had to push hard to make sure that a pool was included when plans for the Susan B. English School were being finalized. Here, participants in the summer swim program pose in 1998. (Image courtesy of Rex and Beverly Edwards)

Life

First in the Pool — Part 1

AUTHOR’S NOTE: A slightly modified version of this two-part story about former teachers Rex and Beverly Edwards and…

In about 1948, after he and brother Alex had proven up on his homestead and were in the process of proving up on Alex’s, Marcus Bodnar poses here with his cabin along the Kenai River near the site of the bridge, which was just being built at this time. (Photo courtesy of the Bodnar Family Collection)

Life

The Bodnar Brothers: Early to Arrive, Early to Depart — Part 2

Although their time on the peninsula was brief, they made an impact

Peter and Pearl Bodnar (front, center) pose for a 1930 Christmas portrait with much of their family, probably in Manitoba, Canada. Pictured are: (back row, L-R) Alex, sister Anna (Bodnar) Bandura, brother Michael holding daughter Pearl next to his wife Jessie, and Marcus. In the front row are: Michael’s eldest daughter Olga, parents Parascevies “Pearl” and Peter Bodnar, and Michael’s middle daughter Marion. (Photo courtesy of the Bodnar Family Collection)

Life

The Bodnar Brothers: Early to Arrive, Early to Depart — Part 1

“Over the hill came two people on an Allis-Chalmers tractor … ”