Telephone Hill Historic Neighborhood Advocacy
POA members have conducted a series of tours of the historic homes on Telephone Hill for elected Juneau officials and the State Historic Preservation Office staff.
These homes were the first built in the Juneau area, long before the city was laid out, and include the oldest continually occupied home in Alaska.
Young, C.W.
Primary Name: C.W. Young
Filed as: Young, C.W.
Also known as: Charles W. Young
Occupation / Association: Contractor; hardware store owner
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Telephone Hill; 111–113 West Third Street
Associated structures: Elton and Allan Engstrom Building
Keywords: Juneau contractor, hardware merchant, Telephone Hill, West Third Street, Engstrom Building, Juneau business history
Biography
During the early 1900s, C.W. Young was a Juneau contractor and hardware store owner. Young owned Block 6, Lots 6–7, where the Elton and Allan Engstrom Building was constructed at 111–113 West Third Street on Telephone Hill.
Sources
- Juneau historic property and business records
Frank Bach
Primary Name: Bach, Frank Xavier
Filed as: bach_frank_xavier
Also known as: Frank Xavier Bach; Frank X. Bach
Occupation / Association: Businessman; Co-founder, Juneau Douglas Telephone Company; Mayor of Douglas, Alaska (1903)
Born: November 3, 1850, Germany
Died: June 3, 1933, Douglas, Alaska
Parents: Peter Bach; Julia Miller Bach
Spouse: Ellen Calhoun-Bach
Children: Alice Bach-Coughlin; Lenore Bach-Edwins; Cecil Bach; three other children, two of whom died young
Associated places: Germany; Douglas, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Taku Harbor, Alaska
Keywords: Frank Xavier Bach, Frank X Bach, Bach Frank Xavier, Douglas Alaska mayor, Juneau Douglas Telephone Company
Biography
Frank Xavier Bach was born on November 3, 1850, in Germany. His parents were Peter Bach of Germany and Julia Miller Bach of Bavaria, Germany. He stood about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed approximately 150 pounds.
He lived in Douglas with his sister, Anna Kunigunde Bach-Zengel-Graf, during the last days of her life. His brother, George Bach, lived in Taku Harbor.
Frank married Ellen Calhoun-Bach. They had six children, four of whom survived to adulthood, including Alice Bach-Coughlin, Lenore Bach-Edwins, and their son Cecil Bach.
Bach joined Edward Webster in forming the Juneau Douglas Telephone Company.
District Recorder records and the 1894 plat map of the Juneau Townsite show Edward Webster and his business partner Frank Bach owning Lots 7 and 8 in Block 1. These lots later contained the Edward Webster House and the Juneau-Douglas Telephone Company Offices at 135–139 West Second Street in the Telephone Hill Historic District.
Bach later sold his interest in the company to his partner.
He served as Mayor of Douglas in 1903.
Frank Xavier Bach died instantly on June 3, 1933, at the age of 72. Charles W. Carter served as his undertaker. Bach was buried in the Douglas City Cemetery.
Sources
Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey, 1984; Find-A-Grave
Tags: Frank Xavier Bach, Frank X Bach, Bach Frank Xavier, Douglas Alaska mayor, Juneau Douglas Telephone Company, Telephone Hill Historic District
Juneau & Douglas Telephone Company Building
The Juneau & Douglas Telephone Company, 204 Main Street, sits on a sloped grade on Telephone Hill's east side below the hilltop where the Edward Webster House stands on 204 Main Street Block 6; Lots 3-4.
From 1915 until 1956 the company was located in a Webster House extension (Hurley, Carrigan 1983). By 1956, the increased telephone demand prompted the company's search for another site and construction of a larger building. Lots 3 and 4 were purchased that year from B.M. Behrends, a store owner and banker who had maintained ownership since 1901.
Two vintage residential structures were removed from the site to permit construction of the new telephone building. The telephone company's new structure housed the first automatic dialing system in Juneau. Today it serves as a switching station.
The Webster family sold the Juneau & Douglas Telephone Company to Continental Telephone Company in 1968.
The rectangular, one-story, Industrial Box building, was constructed in 1956. Its 40' x l00' area encompasses 4,000 square feet. The structure is made of steel and concrete with a steel entry door and stepped, flat canopy on the east facade.
The main floor's small switching room previously served as a public service counter. The room had four windows facing Main Street, but they have since been covered over. A larger room on the main floor contains the main frame of the switching station. The basement contains a storage area for an emergency generator, furnace, transformer and garage.
Lewis, Grace
Primary Name: Lewis, Richard F.
Filed as: lewis_richard
Also known as: R. F. Lewis; Richard Lewis
Occupation / Association: Attorney; Owner, Juneau Water Works
Born:
Died:
Parents:
Spouse: Grace Lewis
Children:
Property / Address: Block F, Lots 7–8; 11 Egan Drive, Juneau, Alaska (corner of Egan Drive and Main Street at the base of Telephone Hill)
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Sitka, Alaska; Washington, D.C.
Keywords: Richard F Lewis, R F Lewis, Richard Lewis Juneau attorney, Lewis Grace, Juneau Water Works, Juneau Motor Company building, 11 Egan Drive Juneau, Telephone Hill property owners, Juneau capital relocation advocates
Biography
Richard F. Lewis and his wife Grace Lewis owned Block F, Lots 7–8, the site where the Juneau Motor Company building stands at 11 Egan Drive on the corner of Egan Drive and Main Street at the base of Telephone Hill. The property remained in their ownership from the turn of the twentieth century until the early 1950s.
Lewis came to Juneau in 1894 and practiced law there until 1952. In addition to his legal career, he owned the Juneau Water Works and was active in civic affairs.
He was among a group of Alaskans who successfully lobbied in Washington, D.C. for the relocation of the territorial capital from Sitka to Juneau.
Sources
City of Juneau property records, 1901–1951; Lewis family records, 1938–1944; Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey
Tags: Richard F Lewis, R F Lewis, Lewis Grace, Juneau Water Works, Juneau attorney, Juneau Motor Company building, 11 Egan Drive Juneau, Telephone Hill property owners, Juneau pioneers
Lewis, Richard
Primary Name: Lewis, Richard F.
Filed as: lewis_richard_f
Also known as: R.F. Lewis, Richard F. Lewis
Occupation / Association: Attorney; owner, Juneau Water Works
Born:
Died:
Parents:
Spouse: Grace Lewis
Children:
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Telephone Hill, Juneau, Alaska
Property / Address: Block F; Lots 7–8, Juneau Motor Company building, 11 Egan Drive, Juneau, Alaska
Keywords: Richard F Lewis, R.F. Lewis, Lewis Richard F, Juneau Water Works owner, Juneau attorney, Telephone Hill property owners
Biography
Richard F. Lewis and his wife Grace Lewis owned Block F, Lots 7–8, where the Juneau Motor Company building stands at 11 Egan Drive on the corner of Egan Drive and Main Street at the base of Telephone Hill. The property remained in the Lewis family from the turn of the twentieth century until the early 1950s.
Lewis came to Juneau in 1894 and practiced law there until 1952. In addition to his legal practice, he owned the Juneau Water Works from 1938 to 1944. Lewis was also among a group of Alaskans who successfully lobbied in Washington, D.C., to have the territorial capital moved from Sitka to Juneau.
Sources
City of Juneau property records, 1901–1951; Lewis family records
Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey
Ninnis, Elroy
Primary Name: Ninnis, Elroy
Filed as: Ninnis, Elroy
Also known as: Elroy Ninnis
Occupation / Association: Automobile dealer; president, Juneau Motor Company
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Telephone Hill, Juneau
Keywords: Elroy Ninnis, Ninnis Elroy, Juneau Motor Company, Ford dealership Juneau Alaska, Telephone Hill Juneau businesses, early Juneau automobile dealers
Biography
Elroy Ninnis became president of the Ford dealership in Juneau in 1936 after working for the company since 1924.
He worked in the Juneau Motor Company building located at 11 Egan Drive, on the corner of Egan Drive and Main Street at the base of Telephone Hill on Block F, Lots 7–8.
Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey, 1984; Ninnis 1983; Juneau Empire 1954
Juneau Motor Company
The Juneau Motor Company, 11 Egan Drive, is situated on the corner of Egan Drive and Main Street at the base of Telephone Hill on Block F; Lots 7-8.
The company moved to this site in 1935 from the former dock site of Alaska Coastal Airlines located across the street. Elroy Ninnis became president of the Ford dealership that year after working for the company since 1924 (Ninnis 1983; Juneau Empire 1954).
Lots 7 and 8, shoreline property prior to fill operations in the 1920s and 1930s, were the early sites of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company and Wells Fargo Express offices.
Richard F. Lewis and Grace Lewis owned the lots from the turn of the century until the early 1950s (City of Juneau 1901-1951).
R.F. Lewis came to Juneau in 1894, practiced law until 1952, and owned the Juneau Water Works (Lewis 1938-44). He was among a group of Alaskans who lobbied successfully in Washington, D.C. to have the state capital moved from Sitka to Juneau.
T
he original Juneau Motor building on Lots 7 and 8 was destroyed by fire in 1964. The present buildings were constructed in 1965 (Ninnis 1983). Capital Motors Supply, 47 Willoughby, was established in 1958 and is owned by Juneau Motor. Joseph Ninnis, son of Elroy, became president of the company in 1963.
The Juneau Motor Company and Capital Motors Supply consist of rectangular, one-story structures and two storage sheds. The dealership's main building has a sales showroom, parts department and a service department. The low-pitched gable roof is situated over concrete-block walls covered with vertical aluminum paneling and aggregate siding. The building includes large showroom windows.
The Capital Motors Supply building, measuring 50 1 x90 1 with a floor area of 4,192 square feet, consists of a 20 1 x20 1 retail department, a 711 x50 1 warehouse and an ll 1 x23' wood shed addition housing an office. The building has a flat roof with an aluminum-siding -cornice, steel and concrete framing, and painted concrete-block siding.
The rear of the building is covered with painted, corrugated metal, and the wood shed addition has vertical wood siding. The building's floor and foundation are poured concrete. The floors and foundation are concrete. Both one-story storage sheds have corrugated-metal siding.
Feldon, Sam
Primary Name: Feldon, Sam
Filed as: Feldon, Sam
Also known as: Sam Feldon
Occupation / Association: Property owner; early Juneau resident
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Telephone Hill, Juneau, Alaska
Keywords: Sam Feldon, Feldon family, Telephone Hill, Juneau historic homes, Anita Kodzoff House, early Juneau residents, Juneau property owners
Biography
Sam Feldon was an early resident of Juneau associated with the historic residential neighborhood on the southeastern slope of Telephone Hill. Feldon owned the house located at 107 West First Street, commonly known as the Anita Kodzoff House, until 1945.
The residence formed part of the hillside community that developed during the early decades of Juneau’s growth as a mining town and later as the territorial capital of Alaska. Telephone Hill became one of the city’s earliest residential districts, housing miners, merchants, laborers, and families who worked along the nearby waterfront and in the commercial core of downtown Juneau.
Homes on the southeast face of Telephone Hill were typically modest wooden structures built on steep terrain overlooking Gastineau Channel. These houses reflected the practical architecture of early Southeast Alaska communities, where limited flat land required creative building methods and compact residential layouts.
The structure at 107 West First Street later became associated with Anita Kodzoff, whose name is now commonly used to identify the house in historical surveys of the neighborhood. The building was one of many residences documented during preservation studies examining the historic resources of Telephone Hill.
Although relatively little biographical information survives about Sam Feldon, his ownership of the property represents one of the many individuals and families who contributed to the development of the Telephone Hill neighborhood during Juneau’s formative years.
Sources
- Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey, 1984.
Johnson, Richard
Primary Name: Johnson, Richard
Filed as: johnson_richard
Also known as: Richard Johnson
Occupation / Association: Property owner, Telephone Hill
Born:
Died:
Parents:
Spouse:
Children:
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Telephone Hill, Juneau, Alaska
Property / Address: Lot 6, Anita Kodzoff House, 107 West First Street, Telephone Hill, Juneau, Alaska
Keywords: Richard Johnson, Johnson Richard, Telephone Hill property owners, Anita Kodzoff House, 107 West First Street Juneau
Biography
Richard Johnson owned Lot 6 on the southeast face of Telephone Hill in Juneau, Alaska, from 1901 to 1914. The property is the site of the Anita Kodzoff House, located at 107 West First Street.
The property underwent improvements during Johnson’s ownership.
Sources
Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey