Construction of the Alaska Governor’s Mansion was a Federal Ordeal, Executive Mansion, Juneau, Alaska
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Looking SE, Executive Mansion of the Alaska Governor, 10/03/1912, Under Construction.
The Alaska Governor’s Mansion, originally called the Executive Mansion, was constructed in Juneau, Alaska between 1911 and 1913. The photographs displayed here were primarily taken in 1912; however, with planning, construction, and completion, etc., the process was roughly three years. While the building has been altered to appear more imposing, it still exists at 716 Calhoun Avenue. The building was designed and funded by the Supervising Architect of the Treasury and, most likely, constructed by a local construction contractor, as was the case with most Federal buildings of this period.
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- Construction of the Executive Mansion by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Juneau, Alaska, 1912. Looking NE at the Construction of the Governor of Alaska’s Executive Mansion–one of the few in America, that remains of wood-frame construction. Given the time of construction, between 1916-1918, the use of wood frame in an executive mansion was unusual, but, then again, Alaska was a mere outpost of the larger United States.
Juneau became the capital of Alaska in 1906. Probably roughly four years later the Federal government began to seriously plan the construction of an Executive Mansion, as it takes time to move a government from one place to another. Regardless, the building was designed by the architects within the office of James Taylor Knox, then Supervising Architect of the Treasury, and was completed by 1913. The style of the building is within the architectural motifs indicative of Colonial Revival and small scale Neo-Classical Mansions of the upper middle class to low rich in America. The fact that the building was wood-frame is rather unusual for an Executive Mansion in the 1910s, yet it is all the more beautiful in our eyes. And while the building has been altered greatly at the facade, we are happy to see that wood-frame is still good enough for a Governor–even if it is Alaska.
Looking North, the Executive Mansion is nearing completion, as it has been fully clad in wood siding and its Colonial Revival porch is being added to the primary facade, which commands an excellent view of the small city (then more of a town), the Gastineau Channel, and West Juneau.
