The Anita Kodzoff House, a duplex, sits at 107 West First Street on the southeast face of Telephone Hill.

City tax records date the Kodzoff House from 1896, with possession of the site passing among a number of early settlers. Names affiliated with the property between 1885 and 1895 include: French Pete Erussand, John Jackson, William Nelson, John McKinnon and John Malony.

In 1901, Lot 5 was owned and developed by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. The company provided terminal and business space for local professionals during its 30-year existence.

Lot 6 underwent property improvements during Richard Johnson's ownership from 1901 to 1914. By 1916 two "shacks" were recorded on the site. A succession of individuals owned the property from 1915 until Anita Grace Garnick-Kodzoff-Olsen, President of the Juneau Women's Igloo in 1949 and 1950, purchased the property in 1945 from Sam Feldon.

The polygonal, wood-frame building is located off the southern stairwell, a Juneau landmark, on Main Street. This Pioneer Bungalow is clad with asphalt composition siding with the exception of the wood-shingled south facade. Composition roofing covers the intersecting gable roofs, and a shed roof covers the glassed-in porch on the front facade. Extended eaves with boxed cornices are visible. The building stands two stories high on its east facade; the opposite side isl½ stories.

A variety of windows appear on the building: fixed-pane, multi-lite, double-hung sash and diamond-shaped. Soon after the Kodzoff purchase in 1945, the sun porch on the north facade was converted to an enclosed entry. Original doors remain on the east and west facades. The duplex's lower level is the poured concrete partial basement. The wooden apartment door is comprised of a small, leaded-glass window with multi-lites. 

Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey, 1984

Primary Name: McKinnon, John

Filed as: McKinnon, John

Also known as: John McKinnon

Occupation / Association: Early Juneau property owner

Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Telephone Hill, Juneau, Alaska

Property / Address: Telephone Hill area properties, Juneau, Alaska

Keywords: John McKinnon Juneau Alaska, McKinnon family Juneau Alaska, Telephone Hill property owners, early Juneau landowners, Telephone Hill historic neighborhood

Biography

John McKinnon was an early property owner in Juneau, Alaska, who purchased lots in the city during the community's early development.

Historical records indicate that McKinnon may have owned or occupied property associated with the Telephone Hill neighborhood, one of Juneau’s earliest residential districts located above the downtown waterfront.

Sources

DeArmond, Robert N., Juneau City and Borough Historic Survey, 1967.

Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey, 1984.

https://poajuneau.nationbuilder.com/garside_charleshttps://poajuneau.nationbuilder.com/degroff_edEuro-American presence in southeast Alaska began in·the latter part of the 18th century when explorers visited the area in search of highly prized furs, particularly the sea otter, for trade purposes. The survey for Alaskan resources included the search for precious minerals and the hope of discovering the famed Northwest Passage (State of Alaska 1982).

Countries involved in exploring the northwest coast of North America included Spain, England, Russia, France and Japan. Russian explorers are recorded as the first to encounter Native groups in southeastern Alaska. The first published account of exploration in Gastineau Channel was written by Captain George Vancouver, describing his journeys in 1793 and 1794. Seventy years later, the name Gastineau Channel was included on the 1867 Humphrey manuscript furnished to Western Telegraph Company (Werner 1925).

John Muir, a well-known naturalist, visited Lynn Canal in 1879. Upon his return to Sitka after interacting with Chilkat Tlingits, Muir noted that gold might be found in the area lying between Windham Bay and Sullivan Island in northern Lynn Canal.

Chief Kowee of the Auk Tlingit brought ore samples to George Pilz, a mining engineer residing in Sitka in 1880. These samples confirmed Muir's statements of potential gold reserves in southeast Alaska ( DeArmond 1967).