THE STEAMER NENANA The Last Lady of the River

Steamship Nenana. Taken on the Tanana River [Henry S. Kaiser Jr. papers, University of Alaska Anchorage UAA-HMC-1148]

—•— by Patricia De Nardo Schmidt —•—

Sternwheelers at one time plied the rivers of Alaska, bringing in fortune seekers from all over the world to find their riches in gold. Though few seeking gold struck it rich, the sternwheelers continued to bring people and supplies to fish camps, villages, and towns of pioneer Alaska.

At one period in Alaskan history, there were over 300 flat-bottomed sternwheelers navigating on the Yukon River and its tributaries. These sternwheelers were essential in the development of the history of Alaska. Of all these lifelines of the rivers, only one remains, the Steamer SS Nenana, located in Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. The wooden-hulled, western rivers-style steam sternwheel passenger boat Nenana is one of only three steam-powered passenger sternwheelers of any kind left in the U.S., and the only large wooden hulled sternwheeler. She is a living museum of history that must be preserved for perpetuity.

She was built and operated by the Alaska Railroad. With the completion of the railroad from Seward to Fairbanks in 1923, a way to haul freight to the villages and towns was needed. On September 16, 1922, the War Department deactivated the steamers General Jeff C. Davis, and General J. Jacobs from the U.S. Army and made them available to the Alaska Railroad free of charge by Executive Order. By 1931 the two older boats were no longer efficient for the railroad. To cut operating costs the railroad contracted for a single large boat to replace the Davis and Jacobs. March 5 th, 1932 William C. Kickum, a Seattle Marine Architect, submitted plans for a steam-driven sternwheeler to the Alaska Railroad which was accepted for the build.

The Berg Shipbuilding Company in Ballard, Washington, was the low bidder at $131,326.60 and was awarded the contract in June of 1932. The equipment contract went to Washington Iron Works, who built the boilers. Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company supplied the electrical and condensing equipment. Worthing Company in Seattle furnished the pumps. Mr. Berg of the Berg Shipbuilding Company advertised that they had seasoned timber and lumber on hand in Seattle, gathered with other necessary equipment and tools, that would be shipped to start the construction in Nenana about July 15, 1932.

The materials were shipped from Seattle to Seward by regular steamship lines, then transported 450 miles on the Alaska Railroad to Nenana. It was stipulated that all labor, except skilled mechanics and foremen from the Berg Shipbuilding Company, had to be performed by residents of the Alaska territory.

The SS Nenana was primarily a working vessel. It was a blending of steam, wood, and paddlewheel technology. The sternwheeler was completed on May 10 th , 1933 and was named after the town she was built in, the former Native village which became the Northern Division Headquarters for construction of the Alaska Railroad. She was fitted with 24 berths with two-berth staterooms, dining salon, purser’s office, purser’s stateroom with one berth, steward’s stateroom with two berths, smoking room, observation room, pantry, and men’s and women’s toilets. The housing for officers’ quarters and pilot house was above the saloon deck. Engine room, crew’s space, and crew’s toilets were on the cargo deck; also, along with the galley and bakery. Food for the dining salon was lifted on a dumbwaiter from the galley. Passenger and officers’ rooms were fitted with porcelain washbowls and electric lights.

The SS Nenana was made out of clear, vertical grain; kiln-dried fir. With a total weight of 1,128 tons and 237 feet in overall length. The deck of the Nenana is 20,000 square feet. She could carry 300 tons of cargo in her hold and still could push up to six barges when on the Yukon River, one barge on the Tanana River, which was narrower and winding. With a 210-foot hull, she had five decks, was 42 feet wide and 47 feet tall. Yet unloaded the Nenana sat in the water only 18 inches or a maximum of three feet six inches with a capacity load.

The SS Nenana’s twin tandem 300-horsepower horizontal condensing engines were among the most powerful designed at that time. The locomotive engines of the period were 30 x 6.6 feet and produced 220 pounds per square inch of power. She was the only single-stacked sternwheeler with a high/ low-pressure twin compound condensing steam engine. Making the steam that ran the steamboats required vast quantities of river water and burned up to a cord of wood an hour. The excess steam was then discharged through her smokestack, creating a forced draft that made it possible to burn any kind of wood, wet or dry. She could carry up to 230 cords of wood on board.

The Nenana’s engine room had been designed to include a condenser; the used steam could be cooled, resulting in clean distilled water recycled back through the boilers then reheated into steam and used over and over. Crew members who are still with us today talk of how clear and clean the river water was after going through this system. Because she was able to create her own water supply, she was the only overnight packet (passenger and freight transportation) that had an unlimited supply of water and could boast of flushing toilets and showers. Wood camps were located about every 50 miles along the river for stops to load more wood for the boilers. Contracts were made with the villagers before each season by the purser for the next years-wood supply.

The first season for the steamer in 1933 found a design flaw with the hogging and the main king post. The heavy cargo overstressed her hogging system, making her so flexible that the pitman arms that drove the paddle wheel were misaligned. Its paddle was also placed so high that there was hardly any steerage control. That winter her hogging system was completely redesigned. The double king posts were replaced with a single central post. The vertical struts were leaned longitudinally, giving the hull more load strength. The wheel was lowered a full three feet. A lighter hollow wheel shaft replaced the original. A newly designed hydraulic steering system gave her better control.

The ship required a crew of 30 to 35 people, which included a Captain, Pilot, First Officer, and Second Mate, Chief Engineer, Purser, Chief Cook, Cooks, Baker, Steward, Oiler, three firefighters, four stewards, and 16 deckhands.

The SS Nenana’s first captain was Charles Wilbur Adams. Captain Adams also holds the distinction of being the owner and captain of the Lavelle Young that brought Elbridge Truman Barnette and partner Charles Smith to the banks of the Chena River, which later became Fairbanks. When the water on the Chena became too shallow for the heavy sternwheeler to continue, it was forced to turn around. Adams did not want to risk the ship going aground. Barnette’s and Adams's contract stated if the Lavelle Young could no longer navigate the river, the freight and passengers would be unloaded onto its banks.

Adams captained the SS Nenana for the next 14 years, until he was forced to retire at 65. Earl Wier served as the second captain for only one year. Charles Adams’ nephew, Howard Adams, had worked as a mess boy in the early days of the SS Nenana. Howard served as the last captain, retiring the boat from passenger service in 1949 and then as a cargo steamer in 1954.

The Steamer Nenana carried a variety of freight and food. The most prized to the villagers was the fresh fruit that came in on those first runs in the spring. The SS Nenana had a large refrigeration unit on the lower deck that allowed perishable goods, like milk, eggs, and cheese to be delivered to the villages. The barges the SS Nenana pushed carried coal, lumber, grain, hardware, mining equipment, horses, dog teams — even the first cars and trucks into the villages.

The meals on the SS Nenana were excellent. The cooks served meals every six hours. The bakers started at 5:30 A.M. every day. They even employed three women as cooks and bakers on board. Stewards served the meals to the passengers. Officers kept the staterooms clean.

The SS Nenana ran from May through September 24 hours a day. In the early fall or during poor weather when it was dark, a huge searchlight made forward progress possible. She ran on a two-week schedule from Nenana to Marshall on the Yukon River, with occasional trips to Whitehorse, Canada, or St. Michael on the Bering Sea. There was always a big load of mail on the first trip of the season. The captain would start blowing the whistle about ten miles from each village, so everyone knew they were coming. The first run of the year there was always a party for the arrival of the sternwheeler in each village, with lots of food and dancing.

The SS Nenana could accommodate 52 passengers but was never licensed to carry more than 16 by the Steamboat Inspection Service because it only carried two lifeboats. During World War II, federal officials and military were not considered “Passengers for Hire.” The SS Nenana would carry more people on board during those years.

The SS Nenana, being a federally-owned vessel, fulfilled a significant role during World War II. She transported equipment and personnel needed to construct airfields and other military installments, including facilities and aircraft for the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 which were transported on the barges that were pushed by the SS Nenana. [1]

The Steamers were the only means of transporting equipment and supplies needed to construct these bases. Thousands of troops and construction personnel had to be transported to places like Tanacross, Ruby, and Galena. The SS Nenana proved highly effective in the war effort transporting freight, building materials, military supplies and men between Canada and Alaska.

The end of the war brought a slower pace to the people of Alaska. Because of the changing economics and the costs of running the steamer using wood, which was being depleted, the engines were switched in 1948 to oil burning. The boat’s engines had the most advanced design of the time: four 60,000 lb. fuel oil tanks were installed.

There was a surplus of planes available in Alaska after the war. Scheduled flights were starting to fly into the villages. The Alcan Highway that was built during the war was supplying the bigger cities; they were no longer using the train to bring in freight from ships. In an effort to keep the SS Nenana competitive, at the close of the 1952 navigation season she was completely reconditioned at Whitehorse. She returned to run for one more season in 1953. The age of diesels spelled the finish for the SS Nenana. The Alaska Railroad pulled the SS Nenana from service in 1954.

The smaller sternwheeler Idler was owned and operated by Capt. George Black of Black Navigation. He ran his riverboat on the side streams. The smaller "fish camps" were the strong point for Black Navigation. He made strong ties to individual customers; service was the reason for the success and survival of Black Navigation Co. The company became Yutnana Barge Lines and leased the SS Nenana in 1954. He operated the SS Nenana to haul freight on rivers for one season but discontinued the lease as it was unprofitable.

Tourism was a big part of business in Fairbanks. Each year thousands of tourists came to Alaska, but the problem was a great number were shunning Fairbanks. In 1956 Fairbanks leaders felt if they did not do something to generate some kind of easily accessible tourist attractions in the Fairbanks area, the city would continue to lose important revenue. The Chamber of Commerce discussed purchasing the SS Nenana from the Alaska Railroad.

In 1956 a group of Fairbanks businessmen formed the group Greater Fairbanks Opportunities Inc. which was an offshoot of the Chamber of Commerce. Their major plan was to make and spend money to promote tourist attractions in Fairbanks. The Chamber of Commerce purchased the SS Nenana for $40,000.00 in 1956, then sold it to the Greater Fairbanks Opportunities Inc. for $18,893.00. They felt it would more than pay for itself in a few seasons.

The SS Nenana left her namesake town on May 19, 1957, with a volunteer crew. She arrived in Fairbanks on May 21st. She was opened in Fairbanks in June of 1957, where tourists were housed only when other commercial housing was filled. They ran her as a boatel (a boat hotel) on the Chena River. They would have nightly native dancers appear and show the old travelogue movies. She also served as a meeting place for different organizations during the summer months.

When the bank loan on the boat became due, the six remaining directors were called upon to assume their proportionate share of their obligation. Without the funds to make the payment, it was the end of the boatel on the river. In 1960 she was moved to a pond of water off the Chena, where she sat until 1965, rapidly being reduced to ruin.

In 1965 plans were being made for the 100th year celebration of the purchase of Alaska from the Russians in 1867. The Alaska 67 State Centennial Exposition site of 44 acres was secured. They wanted to purchase the SS Nenana as the main focal point for the park. Present owners of the SS Nenana stockholders transferred the title of the sternwheeler to the Centennial Organization. In exchange, they would get the first claim to its earnings at the exposition.

In 1965 a channel was dug from the Chena River to a man-made pond early that September, the SS Nenana was floated down the Chena into the park as the first structure in the park.

Unfortunately, the boat was looked on as a source of revenue and not a historic vessel that should be restored and saved. The staterooms were removed and the “Sandbar Restaurant” was added to the Saloon deck which opened in June of 1967. The boat was not made for year-round use, so this caused great damage to the walls of the ship. Further damage was done when roofs were added to different levels for protection. The weight of the roofs and heavy snowfall damaged the hull.

In 1987, Jack Williams founded the Fairbanks Historical Preservation Foundation, a public, nonprofit organization. With crucial help from local government, the State of Alaska, and especially the Pioneers of Alaska Igloo No. 4 and Auxiliary No. 8. The foundation led the restoration of the SS Nenana. From 1987 to 1992 the SS Nenana was fully restored to her original beauty. The restaurant and kitchen were removed, and the staterooms were rebuilt. They replaced the mahogany walls in the dining area. The whole ship was stripped, painted, and authentically recreated. The SS Nenana was designated as a national historic landmark on May 5, 1989 (www.nps.gov/places/nenana.htm). Sadly, the Fairbanks Historical Preservation Foundation faltered and came to an end, and it once again became the responsibility of the Fairbanks North Star Borough to maintain her as part of Alaskaland, the park that is now called Pioneer Park.

Years of deferred maintenance have left many historic structures and much of the infrastructure in a state of disrepair in Fairbanks. The SS Nenana has been one of those historic structures. In March of 2018, it was announced that the SS Nenana was being closed to the public due to safety concerns. There was a possibility she may be demolished.

Hearing the danger of the possibility of losing the SS Nenana brought concerned citizens of Fairbanks together to form the organization “Friends of SS Nenana.” They are a state non-profit organization working under the guidance of North Star Community Foundation’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit umbrella.

Thanks to early efforts, the SS Nenana was added to the Alaska Association for Historic Preservation’s Ten Most Endangered Historic Properties in 2018 and again for 2019. In June of 2019, the non-profit organization was able to retain Paul Zankich, P.E., Principal Naval Architect, Owner, and President of Columbia-Sentinel Engineers, Inc. to do a full inspection of the boat for repairs. He is doing a full written report, pro bono, on what needs to be repaired and how to do each of these tasks safely and historically correct.

Without substantial fundraising, public and private funds advocacy, and a close working partnership with the borough, we will lose the SS Nenana, a historic sternwheeler that is the last of her kind. Our mission is to enable renovation and preservation of this historic sternwheeler. With strategic planning for future maintenance and ways to make the boat more selfsupportive, she will be an invaluable tool of learning that will be enjoyed for countless generations to come in perpetuity.

For more information about Friends of SS Nenana or how to get involved, go to their website (friendsofssnenana.com) or their Facebook page: Friends of SS Nenana. Donations to help support the SS Nenana can also be made through these sites or the North Star Community Foundation SS Nenana page (www.nscfundalaska.org/FSSN).

[1] National Historic Landmark https://www.nps.gov/places/nenana.htm

The author of this article, Patricia De Nardo Schmidt, came to Alaska in 1959, growing up in Anchorage and Fairbanks. She has lived in Fairbanks since 1969. She married in 1978 in Fairbanks and has two grown children who both live in Fairbanks. She is a student of history, especially that of Alaska and Fairbanks. Patricia watched the history of Fairbanks being lost over the years as buildings were being demolished or falling into ruin and collapse. When she heard the Steamer SS Nenana was closed to the public in March of 2018 and in danger of being demolished she knew she had to take action. Joining with others who had the same interest in saving the Alaskan steamship, the group Friends of SS Nenana was formed.