All Guides: Alaska Highway construction archival collections: Home

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Little Brother (Bob Engles), brokendown. Image of man standing beside a bulldozer, during the construction of the Alaska Highway. Lyle Sherman Leseberg photograph albums, Alaska Historical Society collections, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

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Alaska Highway construction collections

The Alaska Highway runs from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Delta Junction, Alaska, where it joins the Richardson Highway before reaching Fairbanks. The original military highway was built by the U. S. Army and civilian contractors in 1942 to 1943.The following collections deal primarily with the early construction of both the Alaska Highway. The archives also holds collections related to early travelers and tourists on the Alaska Highway, which was opened to civilian traffic in 1947. Follow the links to collection descriptions and inventories. You can keyword search all of our collection descriptions and inventories by using the search box available on each of the pages below.

For collections at archives, libraries, and museums across Alaska related to construction of the Alaska Highway, please visit the guide to Alaska Highway construction primary sources on Alaska's Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED)

Please note: if you're seeking information about an individual who worked on the Alaska Highway construction, you might want to read our blog entry about that topic before planning a visit. If you're in search of military records about the construction--personnel or otherwise--you'll probably want to start your research with the National Archives. Many of the other Alaska archives also hold records from individuals involved in the construction, so please be sure to search those as well.

Alaska Highway Alberta-British Columbia Division construction records; 1942 March-September.
This collection contains administrative records in support of the initial construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942 including correspondence, notes, letters of memoranda, select employee and contractor lists, expense reports, and maps. The records mainly focus on the construction in Section F and the Dawson Creek to Cutbank River segment (mile 0 to mile 20.6 of the original highway route). The records appear to have been retained by Levant Brown, a senior highway engineer with the Public Works Administration. The title of the collection is taken from the folder in which the records arrived.
Omer D. Clark Canol Pipeline construction photographs; circa 1943-1944.
HMC-0642. Clark was employed as a civilian construction worker on the Canol Pipeline. A majority of the collection pertains to the construction of the Canol Pipeline, however the collection includes photographic postcards of Alaska Highway construction scenes.
Donald F. Culver papers; 1942-1980.
HMC-1211. Papers and photographs of a man who served with the 74th Engineer Company during the construction of the ALCAN.
Fred Austin Delaplain papers; 1924-1945, bulk 1943-1944.
hmc-1404. Papers and photographs of a driver who worked on the Alaska Highway during its construction.
John Andrew Higgins papers; 1914-1950, bulk 1942-1946.
HMC-0538. Scrapbook of a U.S. Navy Seabee stationed in Alaska during WWII and who worked on construction of the Alaska Highway. Some photographs depict Alaska Highway construction, workers, and supply facilities, as well as the CANOL oil refinery in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.
Howard and Mabel Jonish papers; 1910-1989.
HMC-0428. The collection contains the papers, photographs, post cards, and color slides of Howard and Mabel Jonish relating to their life in Alaska as well as the various construction projects on which Howard Jonish worked. The collection includes photographs taken during Alaska Highway construction.
Bud Krier papers; 1943-1944, 1975.
HMC-0709. Photographs and papers of construction on the telephone line along the Alaska Highway in 1943.
Lyle Sherman Leseberg photograph albums; 1943.
HMC-1151-AHS. Lyle Sherman Leseberg was a soldier in the United States Army during the construction of the Alcan Highway. The collection includes photographs taken and/or collected by Leseberg during the construction of the Highway.
William Herbert Newlove photographs and postcards; 1942-1944.
HMC-0608. Newlove worked as part of the construction crew on the Alaska Highway, possibly as an employee of the Sears Construction Company of Iowa. The collection contains photographs taken during his time working on a Alaska Highway construction crew. Subjects include construction workers and support staff, equipment, vehicles, buildings, and pipe-laying activities.
Charles H. Palda papers; 1942-1944.
HMC-1040-AHS. Senior partner of Okes Construction Company, managing contractor for work done on part of the Alaska Highway.
Millard Preston papers; 1940-1945.
HMC-1297. Photographs taken and collected by a man who worked on construction of the Alaska Highway.
T. Saplak photographs; 1942-1943.
HMC-0540. Photographs of the area between Dawson Creek and the Sikanni Chief River in British Columbia during the construction of the Alaska Highway.
Jerome F. Sheldon papers; 1885-1994.
HMC-0220. Subject files, research materials, and articles of a newspaperman and free-lance writer. Member of the U. S. Army's 18th Engineer Regiment constructing the Alaska Highway during World War II.
Florentine A. Traxler papers; 1943-1944.
HMC-0912. Memorabilia, photographs, and newspapers of a woman who worked for Dowell Construction Co. during the construction of the Alaska Highway.
Unidentified Alaska Highway construction worker photographs; 1942-1944.
HMC-1353-AHS. Photographs from an unidentified civilian worker on the construction of the Alaska Highway.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Soldier’s Alaska Highway Construction photographs; 1942-1945.
HMC-0501. This collection includes photographs taken during construction of the Alaska Highway in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory.
U.S. National Park Service. Alaska Highway planning survey photographs; 1943.
HMC-0285. The collection consists of the first volume of a set of photographic albums prepared by the NPS as part of the Alaska Highway Land Planning Survey. The photographs show various scenes along the Alaska Highway including Big Delta Tangent, the construction of the Johnson River Bridge, Tok Junction, and Mentasta Lake.
Albert Weir photographs; circa 1942-1945.
HMC-1203. The collection contains photographs taken of various points along the ALCAN during its construction.
C. Wilbert Alaska Highway construction photographs; circa 1943-1945.
HMC-0494. The collection contains photographs and postcards of the Alaska Highway construction. Subjects include work crews, construction equipment, building materials, and scenes along the Highway, such as hospitals, hospital staff, and wildlife.

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Subjects: Alaska / Arctic, History