Anchorage Pioneers

Have you ever heard of Ulysses Grant (“U.G.”) Crocker? He and his wife built one of the first department stores in Anchorage.

In the photo above, left to right are Ulysses Grant “U.G.” Crocker, his son Eugene and his wife, Ida “Mary”.

Ulysses Grant (U.G.) Crocker, first arrived in the tent city that would become Anchorage in 1915, with the idea of opening a furniture store.

A Tent Business in Tent City

With most of the Railroad workers and others, living in tents, Crocker decided to open a business that made and repaired tents. It was a perfect match.

In addition, they also made and repaired awnings and sleeping bags.

In the 1915 photo above is the Crocker’s first wood-frame store.

Not long after arriving in tent city, Crocker opened their first store on 4th Avenue between H and I streets. Notice that when they first opened for business, they specialized in making mattresses.

Success

In the 1929 photo above, notice the hanging sign over 4th Avenue.

The sign reads “Empress”, for the Empress movie theatre on the left side of the street facing west.

*This puts the U.G. Crocker store on the North west side of 4th and G streets.

Business was good for Crocker and his wife, so they relocated to 4th and G street, across from the old Anchorage Federal Building at 605 west 4th Avenue.

In the 1935 photo above is a look inside the U.G. Crocker department store.

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The Crocker Building

In the 1942 photo above is the Crocker Building at 4th and G streets

As the Crocker’s business continued to grow, the family was able to expand and become one of the first department stores in Anchorage.

The building above was home to the U.G. Crocker department store, and the rear of the second floor of the building served as living quarters for the family.

Anchorage City Council and More

In addition to his department store, Crocker served on the Anchorage City Council from 1925 to 1926 and from 1932 to 1933.

Ulysses Grant (U.G.) Crocker also served as a Director with the First National Bank of Anchorage.

One of the Builders of Anchorage

Crocker passed away in Alaska on June 15, 1937.

On the day following his death, the Anchorage Daily Times published the following comment:

“a true pioneer of Alaska and one of the builders of Anchorage.”

BONUS

Would you like to know more?

Take a look at Ulysses Grant (U.G.) Crocker and enjoy.

From Our North Stars (that’s you)

From our look at Whittier

“Great look at Whittier!  My only time seeing the town was back in the summer of 1968 when I took a roundtrip train ride to Seward.  And Whittier looked like something out of a move set then…and even now!  Second, I recall that the movie Runaway Train with Jon Voight had a few scenes shot on location in and around Whittier.”

Peter 

“We've been to Whittier a couple of times. What a neat, fun place to visit!”

Michael

“My friend and I took the Alaska Railroad train to Whittier around 1970-71 for a weekend. We were both around 12 years old, I think. His dad held some position at the Sportsman's Inn in Whittier. Maybe he was the manager because we had free rein of the kitchen.

My most vivid memory is one night in the howling wind and blowing snow we raced a snowmobile up and down the street behind the Inn. Great memories of going there and seeing the high-rise buildings in the background.”

John

“Thanks for reminding me how beautiful Whittier is.”

Avril

BONUS

Anchorage Memories.com

Did You Know?

You can enjoy a gold mine of memories on our website.

From the tent city in 1915 that would become Anchorage, up through the 1970s.

Take a look at Anchorage Memories.com and enjoy.

Connect with Us

For some reason, Mike and Mary have the strange feeling that they should go shopping.

Interesting to learn about one of the pioneers who brought department store shopping to Anchorage.

Do you have a comment? We’d love to hear from you. You can reply to this email to send us your comment.

Or would you like to say, “Shopping in early Anchorage would have been interesting.”

You can also just click on the words, Contact Us to connect with Mike and Mary.

Until Next Time

Mike and Mary

Anchorage Memories.com