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BIG DELTA — The Tanana River now passes harmlessly by the 1907 telegraph cabin that was previously threatened by erosion here in Big Delta State Historical Park.
The cabin was moved back to its original home this summer after a crowdfunding project last year helped pay riverbank reinforcement.
"It seems to be holding up really well," said Brooks Ludwig, northern region superintendent for Alaska State Parks.
The telegraph cabin is one of 14 historical (some original and some replica) buildings in this 10-acre park near where the Richardson Highway crosses the Tanana River north of Delta Junction. The early 20th century buildings, including the three-story Rika's Roadhouse built in 1913, document the location as a Tanana River crossing ferry base on the Fairbanks-Valdez trail, the site of several failed wooden bridges, a roadhouse and a station for the Washington Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System.
With mountain snowmelt over for the season, the river was well below bank full this week. The low water revealed the root balls and mats that were installed to keep the river from eating away the soil. Although the river isn't particularly threatening in September, it can quickly eat into riverbanks in midsummer. In summer 2016, the river got within 14 feet of the telegraph cabin before the cabin was moved to safer ground.
Lacking the budget to protect the cabin and other buildings in the park, Alaska's Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation turned to FundYourPark, a crowdsourcing website, to finance construction of a beefed-up riverbank. The campaign raised $48,000, just short of its $50,000 goal.
The telegraph cabin was returned to its riverbank location this summer because it is no longer threatened. A plaque nearby identifies the people and organizations who contributed to the FundYourPark campaign.
The state parks office previously reinforced a 350-foot section of the park downstream of the telegraph cabin in 2006. An additional 200-foot section between the 2006 and 2017 construction remains in need of reinforcement, but it's not an immediate threat, Ludwig said.
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com