The Valentine Building, built in two phases in 1904 and completed in 1913, is significant for its Frontier Alaskan architectural character, its recognized importance as Juneau's most prestigious office building
during the first half of this century, its association with Emery Valentine and other prominent pioneer Alaskans and significant historic events.

Emery Valentine arrived in Alaska in 1886, possessed of a strong degree of entrepreneurial ambition. At the age of 10, he had already crossed the midwest plains with his pioneering parents.

He followed the Rocky Mountain gold fields as prospector and miner, and lost a leg lost in an early Colorado Territory mining accident.

Still following the gold trails, Valentine arrived in the raw gold camp of Juneau only six years after that significant 1880 Gold Creek discovery by Joe Juneau and Richard T. Harris. He learned goldsmithing—which led him into the gold jewelry trade.

John Olds, one of the first sourdough prospectors following Juneau and Harris, recalled that,"We landed our canoe on November, 1880, at the foot of where Seward Street new is. . ."  This site, just at the-tide mark, was registered, in 1881 as a mining claim, the Boston Lode.

In 1896, yhe year after Valentine's Alaskan arrival, Ernest Ingersoll's best-selling book, Gold Fields of the Klondyke, proclaimed "Juneau, a town of 3,000 is rightly called the metropolis of Alaska Territory. Whether she will retain this prestige remains to be seen. If so, one of two things must occur.  She must plane down
the side of her mountains or erect skyscraping buildings with elevators to accommodate her populace, for nearly every foot of available ground is already occupied. . ."

Emery Valentine was foremost among the developers who found a better way.

When he arrived in Juneau, Front Street was the high tide beach of Gastineau Channel. Emery Valentine, accordingly, was among those who set progress by filling in ground along this derelict beachline. This enabled Valentine to build the first segment of his first building.

"Walking up the stairs to the second floor of the Valentine Building . . . is a trip back into what was the most prestigious business building of Juneau in the early 1900's, built by one of Juneau's colorful pioneer characters ..."  according to Toni Croft & Phyllis Bradner's Touring Juneau; Back Streets, Bawdy-houses, Bars & Bodacious Biographies.

In 1913, the Valentine Building block was advantageously enlarged to in­clude the prime corner lot at Seward and Front Streets. The 1904 structure not only doubled in size, but its impact was vastly enhanced by the most prominent corner location of two streets—rather than only one.

Emery Valentine had come to Alaska in 1886 to satisfy a lifelong desire to develop North America's "Last Frontier." Valentine founded Juneau's finest jewelry store which occupied the city's test retail site at the corner of Seward and Front with exposure on both streets.

Valentine became highly active in Alaskan politics and civic activities. He was Chairman of a city council-type organization called the Juneau Board of Safety, and underwriter and private financier for the first Juneau Fire Department. Valentine served six successful terms as Mayor after Juneau was incorporated in 1900.

Emery Valentine proved his deep commitment to development of Southeastern Alaska. As one of the largest property owners in southeastern Alaska, he helped found the Alaska Steamship Line, the foremost freight and passenger ocean line with service to Seattle. He founded the Peoples Wharf Company Docks at Skagway and Juneau, which so affected shipping charges in these ports, that coal and lumber prices dropped to almost half of the exorbitant rates paid before 1900.

Valentine wanted to erect "a quality structure that would give Juneau a truer air of urbanity."

The Valentine Building was the first in Alaska where office space was intentionally separated from retail space. The building's reputation for quality offices, gained over the years, and its ideal central downtown location, as well as architectural quality, provided elite tenancy for the first half of the century.

Architecturally, the Valentine building is an outstanding example of frontier Commercial architecture that recalls a pioneer Alaskan tradition of quality craftswork; the design responding and interpreting the contemporary archi­tectural developments of the late 19th century West Coast.

Despite intentions to the contrary, the building is a vernacular one; yet impressive in its execution of style. The isolation of Juneau at that time, plus the popularity of pattern books as architectural design aids, provided the fine ornamentation of the building which was available from Seattle millworks).

Stylistically, Valentine Building provides documentation of an historic design evolution.

It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

National Register of Historic Places Nomination form

Primary Name: Pulver, Ernest

Filed as: Pulver, Ernest

Also known as: Ernest Pulver

Occupation / Association: Watchmaker; charter member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men's Igloo

Associated places: New York, United States; Juneau, Alaska

Keywords: Ernest Pulver, Emery Valentine jewelry store Juneau, Juneau watchmakers, Juneau Men's Igloo charter members, Valentine Building Juneau history

Biography

Ernest Pulver was a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men's Igloo.

He was born in New York on February 14, 1870.

Pulver was a skilled watchmaker and worked for Emery Valentine, a prominent Juneau jeweler and businessman. Pulver eventually became the heir to Valentine’s estate, which included the well-known Valentine jewelry store in Juneau.

On February 23, 1931, Pulver was killed in an accident when he fell down the stairs to the furnace room in the Valentine Building in Juneau.

Sources

1910 U.S. Federal Population Census

Daily Alaska Empire, February 23, 1931

Primary Name: Schrick, Irwin

Filed as: Schrick, Irwin

Also known as: Irwin Shrick

Occupation / Association: Jeweler; Charter Member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men's Igloo; Independent Order of Odd Fellows member

Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Salem, Ohio

Keywords: Irwin Schrick, Irwin Shrick, Juneau jeweler, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men's Igloo charter members, IOOF Silver Bow Lodge No 2A Juneau, IOOF West Salem Lodge 442 Ohio, early Juneau businessmen, Alaska fraternal organizations

Biography

Irwin Schrick was a jeweler and a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men's Igloo.

He was born in 1858. Schrick was initiated into the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at West Salem Lodge No. 442 in Salem, Ohio, on June 10, 1870. After moving to Alaska, he transferred his membership to Silver Bow Lodge No. 2A of the IOOF in Juneau on June 7, 1900.

In Juneau, he worked as a jeweler and was active in fraternal organizations during the city’s early years.

Sources

Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men's Igloo records.

Independent Order of Odd Fellows membership records.

Emery Valentine was a charter member of the Juneau Men's Igloo of the Pioneers of Alaska and one of the most influential civic leaders in the early history of Juneau.

Valentine was born in Dowagiac, Michigan, in 1858. On his mother’s side, his ancestry traces back to William Bradford, who arrived in America aboard the Mayflower in 1620.

At the age of ten, he crossed the plains from Michigan to Colorado, riding a small pony with an old overcoat for a saddle and a rope for stirrups. As a youth, he worked as a miner, but after losing a leg in a mining accident, he turned to another trade and apprenticed as a goldsmith and jeweler. Between 1876 and 1886, he owned and operated several jewelry stores in Colorado and Montana.

In 1886, Valentine moved to Juneau, Alaska, where he opened the E. Valentine Jewelry Store. From the beginning of his residence in Juneau, he became deeply involved in the community’s business, civic, and political life.

Valentine organized the Juneau Volunteer Fire Department and served as its first chief. He donated a specialized fire wagon that carried the slogan, “You ring the bell, and we’ll do the rest.”

He is also credited as being the father of the Juneau Public Library, reflecting his long-standing commitment to civic institutions and public life.

Following the incorporation of Juneau in 1900, Valentine served the city in several public offices. He was elected to the Juneau City Council in 1902 and later served six terms as mayor, from 1908 to 1918.

In territorial and national politics, Valentine was aligned with the Republican Party but supported the Bull Moose (Progressive) movement. He became one of the leaders of the insurgent political movement in Alaska and presided over the territorial convention that sent delegates to the Chicago convention, where Theodore Roosevelt was nominated.

Valentine married Josephine Scanlin on December 16, 1909, in Juneau. The marriage later ended in divorce in 1915.

Emery Valentine died in Juneau on September 10, 1930.

Sources

Alaska Weekly, September 19, 1930
Who's Who in Alaskan Politics: Biographical Dictionary of Alaskan Political Personalities, 1884–1974, Evangeline Atwood and Robert N. DeArmond