Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry
The front of the Don Sheldon Building
Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry is located in Alaska
Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry
Location within Alaska
Former name
  • Centennial Aviation Progress Museum
  • Alaska Historical and Transportation Museum
Established1967 (1967)
LocationWasilla, Alaska
Coordinates61°34′39″N 149°32′42″W / 61.5774°N 149.5450°W / 61.5774; -149.5450
TypeTransportation museum
Websitewww.museumofalaska.org

The Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry is a transportation museum located near Wasilla Airport in Wasilla, Alaska.

History

Background

As part of the 1967 Alaska Centennial celebrations, an effort was begun to collect the history of Alaskan aviation.[lower-alpha 1] In June of that year, the Centennial Aviation Progress Museum Committee first met under the chairmanship of Jack Peck. However, within a year the project was taken over by the state, which expanded the scope to all transportation in Alaska.[1] It was developed into the Centennial Train – six former World War II troop cars with exhibits that toured the state. Afterwards, it was placed on display next to the museum.[2]

Fire and move to Palmer

On 5 September 1973, the museum was destroyed by a fire. 85 to 90 percent of the collection, including at least seven airplanes and many other vehicles, were lost.[3][lower-alpha 2] The museum was already suffering from financial problems before the fire and requested funding from the state to help it recover.[5]

It moved to an 8,000 sq ft (740 m2) building the Alaska Stair Fairgrounds in Palmer in 1976 where it became the Alaska Historical and Transportation Museum.[2][6] The funding from the state; $80,000; came through the following year.[7]

Move to Wasilla

However, in 1985, the Alaska State Fair announced it would not renew the museum's lease when it ended in 1987. As a result, the museum changed its name to the Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry and began searching for a new location.[8] In October 1990, it began moving to 10 acres (0.040 km2) it purchased on Jacobsen Lake near Wasilla.[9][lower-alpha 3]

Exhibits

Exhibits at the museum include radio communication vacuum tubes, automobile fuel and the Whitney Section House.[11] There are also collections of vehicles including snowmobiles, and agricultural machinery.[12]

Collection

Aircraft

Rail vehicles

EMD F7A

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Ironically, a different aviation museum, the Pioneer Air Museum, ended up being located at Pioneer Park, which was the site of the centennial.
  2. ↑ A display of moon rocks lost from the museum after the fire was recovered by the Alaska State Museum in 2012.[4]
  3. ↑ In the meantime, the museum had received parts of three Curtiss P-40 Warhakws that had been illegally removed from Unalaska and Umnak Islands in 1986.[10]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Museum Seeks Aid to Obtain Vehicles". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. 24 February 1973. p. A-7. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 "About MATI". Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  3. ↑ Evans, James R. (1 February 2022). "Museum Fire Destroys Early Alaskan Planes". Anchorage Daily News. Archived from the original on 1 February 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2023 – via Fire Engineering.
  4. ↑ Joling, Dan (6 December 2012). "Alaska Reclaims Moon Rocks Taken in 1973". NBC News. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Fate of Transportation Museum Left for Alaska Legislature". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. AP. 20 November 1973. p. 2. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Council Memorandum No. 91-34" (PDF). City of Wasilla. 4 June 1991. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Free Conference Committee Report, Fiscal Year 1978, Operating and Capital Budget" (PDF), Legislative Finance Division, retrieved 17 December 2023
  8. ↑ "Museum Changes Name, Seeks Home". Daily Sitka Sentinel. AP. 19 September 1985. p. 6. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  9. ↑ "Transportation Museum to Move". Sitka Daily Sentinel. AP. 10 October 1990. p. 10. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "Plane Parts to Be Given to Museum". Daily Sitka Sentinel. AP. 18 September 1986. p. 6. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "Collections". Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry. Archived from the original on 17 September 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "Gallery". Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  13. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Bell UH-1 Iroquois, s/n 66-17044 US, c/n 9238". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Cessna UC-78 Bobcat, s/n 43-5744 USAAF, c/n 5064, c/r N44793". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Convair F-102A-65-CO Delta Dagger, s/n 56-1282 USAF, c/n 8-10-229". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  16. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Douglas C-47A, s/n 43-15200 USAAF, c/n 19666". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  17. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Douglas DC-3A-360, s/n 41-18482 USAAF, c/n 04574, c/r N101Z". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Chase-Fairchild C-123B-14-FA Provider, s/n 55-4558 USAF, c/n 20219, c/r N3144W". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  19. ↑ "Fairchild C-123J Provider N98". Rod's Aviation Photos. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  20. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Kaman UH-2B Seasprite, s/n 150185 USN". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  21. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Piasecki CH-21B Work Horse, s/n 53-4362". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  22. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Rand KR-1, c/n 13FK13, c/r N5552". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  23. ↑ "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky H-5H, s/n 49-2001 USAF". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  24. ↑ Combs, John. "[Untitled]". John's Alaska Railroad Webpage. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  25. ↑ Combs, John. "[Untitled]". John's Alaska Railroad Webpage. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
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