Jaeger MacKinnon, Hazel May
Primary Name: Jaeger MacKinnon, Hazel Mary
Filed as: jaeger_mackinnon_hazel_mary
Also known as: Hazel Mary Jaeger; Hazel Jaeger MacKinnon; Hazel MacKinnon
Occupation / Association: Charter Member, Juneau Igloo Women’s Auxiliary No. 6; teacher
Born: March 12, 1897, Juneau, Alaska
Died: January 6, 1987, Sitka, Alaska
Parents: Ernest R. Jaeger; Anna “Larsen” Jaeger
Spouse: James "Sim" Simpson MacKinnon
Children: James Simpson “Skip” MacKinnon
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Thane, Alaska; Los Angeles, California; Philippines; China; Sitka, Alaska
Keywords: Hazel Mary Jaeger MacKinnon, Hazel Jaeger, Hazel MacKinnon, Ernest R Jaeger daughter, Anna Larsen Jaeger daughter, Juneau Igloo Women’s Auxiliary No 6 charter member, Alaska Laundry and Cleaners
Biography
Hazel Mary Jaeger MacKinnon was a charter member of the Juneau Igloo Women’s Auxiliary No. 6.
She was born in Juneau on March 12, 1897, to Ernest R. Jaeger and Anna “Larsen” Jaeger. She attended school in Juneau and graduated in 1916.
Hazel later attended Mills College in California. After completing her studies, she returned to Juneau and taught school in Thane for one year.
She married her childhood friend James "Sim" Simpson MacKinnon on December 5, 1923, in Los Angeles, California.
Following their marriage, the couple lived in the Philippines and China while her husband served in the United States Navy.
Their son, James Simpson “Skip” MacKinnon, was born on February 20, 1925. After returning to Juneau, the family operated their family’s laundry business, Alaska Laundry and Cleaners.
Hazel Mary Jaeger MacKinnon died on January 6, 1987, at the Sitka Pioneers’ Home.
Sources
1900–1920 U.S. Federal Census, Juneau; Gastineau Channel Memories, 1880–1959, p. 245; Alaska Daily Empire, February 21, 1925; U.S. Social Security Death Index
Tags: Hazel Mary Jaeger MacKinnon, Hazel Jaeger, Hazel MacKinnon, Ernest R Jaeger, Anna Larsen Jaeger, Juneau Igloo Women’s Auxiliary No 6 charter member, Alaska Laundry and Cleaners, Juneau pioneers
MacKinnon, Martha
Primary Name: Lyche, Martha Malin
Filed as: Lyche, Martha Malin
Also known as: Martha MacKinnon; Martha Malin MacKinnon
Occupation / Association: Charter Member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Women's Auxiliary No. 6; hotel operator
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Tacoma, Washington; Norway
Keywords: Martha Malin Lyche Juneau Alaska, Martha MacKinnon Juneau Alaska, Lockie MacKinnon family Juneau, Juneau Hotel Main Street history, MacKinnon Apartments Juneau, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Women's Auxiliary charter members, early Juneau hotel operators
Biography
Martha Malin Lyche was a Charter Member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Women’s Auxiliary No. 6.
She was born in Norway in May of 1873 and immigrated to the United States in 1887. In 1892, she came to Alaska from Tacoma, Washington.
Lockie MacKinnon traveled to Seattle in June to hire maids for the Circle City Hotel in Juneau. Martha and a Scandinavian friend were hired and traveled north to Juneau.
Martha later recalled that “two weeks later, I foolishly married the man.” Their first son, James Simpson MacKinnon, was born in Juneau in March 1897. Twin sons, John Neil Donald MacKinnon and Thron Rudolf MacKinnon, were born in 1901.
Lockie and Martha operated the Zynda Hotel, later renamed the Juneau Hotel, on Main Street. In 1926, the couple built the MacKinnon Apartments at Third and Franklin Streets in downtown Juneau.
Martha Malin Lyche MacKinnon died on October 12, 1948.
Sources
1900 U.S. Federal Census, Juneau, Alaska.
1910 U.S. Federal Census, Tacoma, Washington.
Alaska Gold Rush Pioneers of Juneau Douglas Area 1880-1921, p. 49.
MacKinnon, James Simpson
Primary Name: MacKinnon, James Simpson
Filed as: MacKinnon, James Simpson
Also known as: James Simpson "Sim" MacKinnon; J.S. MacKinnon
Occupation / Association: Naval Officer; Businessman; President, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men's Igloo No. 6 (1951)
Born: Juneau, Alaska Territory
Spouse: Hazel Jaeger MacKinnon (married December 5, 1923, Los Angeles, California)
Children: James Simpson "Skip" MacKinnon (born February 20, 1925)
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Los Angeles, California; Philippines; China
Keywords: James Simpson MacKinnon, Sim MacKinnon, J.S. MacKinnon, Skip MacKinnon, Hazel Jaeger MacKinnon, Alaska Laundry and Cleaners, Juneau pioneers, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Igloo 6 President
Biography
James Simpson “Sim” MacKinnon served as President of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men's Igloo No. 6 in 1951.
MacKinnon was the son of a pioneer Fortymile and Juneau mining family.
He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy and graduated as an officer in the U.S. Navy.
He married his childhood friend, Hazel Jaeger, on December 5, 1923, in Los Angeles, California.
After their marriage, the couple lived in the Philippines and China while MacKinnon served in the U.S. Navy.
Their son, James Simpson “Skip” MacKinnon, was born on February 20, 1925.
In 1926, MacKinnon retired from the Navy and returned to Juneau to manage his father-in-law’s business, Alaska Laundry and Cleaners.
Sources
1900–1920 U.S. Federal Census, Juneau; Gastineau Channel Memories 1880–1959, p. 245; Alaska Daily Empire, February 21, 1925
Alaska Steam Laundry Company
The Alaska Steam Laundry Company building at 174 South Franklin Street is an excellent architectural example of an important commercial enterprise which bridged the historical continuity of 19th and 20th Century Juneau.
When it became apparent after the 1880 placer gold strike that Juneau would not be a quick "boom and bust" camp —but rather would enjoy a long, prosperous future, with great mechanized mills, mines and a large payroll of miners, it grew more progressively than other mining camps and reached a level of sophistication surpassing any other in Alaska in the 19th Century.
This was assured by, first, the Treadwell mines, just across the narrow Gastineau Channel on Douglas Island. Deep mining started there in 1882, and by 1885, four corporate groups were mining with several stamp mills and a smelter were in operation.
In 1890 all operations at Douglas consolidated into the great Alaska Treadwell Gold Mining Company. It had then produced $14,000,000 from its four mines and 880 stamps in five mills. It would add some $40 million more to this by 1917 when wiped-out by an unexpected ocean cave-in.
On the Juneau side, starting the same pattern only a few years later, the Alaska-Juneau Gold Company, began acquiring all claims in that district, combined into one great mine and mill which operated up to 1948 and produced $67 million in gold.
Juneau was officially made the capitol of Alaska in 1900, with the executive offices gradually moved from Sitka by 1906. This brought about the residence here of most of the territorial and federal employees in Alaska, in seven territorial departments and 27 federal offices.
At Tacoma, Washington in 1894, Ernest Reinholt Jaeger and his wife, Anna Jaeger, flipped a coin to determine whether they should move to Hawaii or Alaska. The coin favored Alaska.
In January, 1895, Mr. Jaeger selected Juneau as the most promising business location in the Territory, and arrived by steamship from Seattle. Because of the extensive payroll of miners and millworkers—mostly single—laundry and cleaning was a lucrative enterprise.
He leased the Juneau Steam Laundry from A.H. Day, then located in log cabin on the hillside at the end of 2nd just beyond where the Baranof Hotel was later built.
Anna joined him in March, traveling on the maiden voyage of the new flagship of the leading Alaska line, Willapa. The Jaeger family, soon increased by the birth of a daughter. Hazel Jaeger, lived in an adjoining cabin and operated the laundry from there for several years. Then they moved to a larger existing building on Front Street.
Having prospered, he decided to build a show-case operation which would have outlets in Apollo, Valdez, Sitka, Ketchikan and Wrangell; thus the name: Alaska Steam Laundry.
The Jaeger's resided in the master apartment upstairs while Hazel attended local schools. Then they built a home on Fourth Avenue.
While attending Juneau High School, Hazel was a classmate of James Simpson MacKinnon AKA Sim MacKinnon, son of a pioneer Fortymile and Juneau mining family.
Hazel attended Mills College in California and then returned to Thane, Alaska to teach.
Sim MacKinnon was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated as an officer.
They were married in 1923 and spent several years in the Orient, where their son, J.S. Jr., was born, at Manila.
In 1926 Slim retired from the Navy and returned to Juneau to take over management of his Father-in-law’s laundry business.
No longer "Alaska Steam", nor at the same location, the business continued into the fourth generation with grandson Neil MacKinnon, who graduated from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
Alaska Steam Laundry is one of the better existing examples of the transition of Juneau from mining camp to Capital City.