REFERENCE CODE: AkAMH

REPOSITORY NAME:
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
Bob and Evangeline Atwood Alaska Resource Center
625 C Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 907-929-9235
Fax: 907-929-9233
Email: resourcecenter@anchoragemuseum.org

Guide prepared by: Sara Piasecki, Photo Archivist

TITLE: Lloyd E. Brewer Photographs

COLLECTION NUMBER: B2005.023

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Dates: April 6-June 3, 1949, 2005

Extent: 65 items; .1 linear feet

Language and Scripts: The collection is in English.

Name of creator(s): Lloyd E. Brewer, Robinson Studios, Opal Meyers

Administrative/Biographical History:
Government Hill is a neighborhood in the northwest part of Anchorage, Alaska, sitting directly
north of its downtown area. Sitting approximately 115 ft above sea level, Government Hill was
so-called because of the designation of the area as a federal reserve in 1915. It is often cited as
the oldest and first Anchorage neighborhood. The Alaska Railroad withdrew the area from
inclusion as part of the original Anchorage town site, creating instead a reserve for housing
workers from the railroad and other federal entities doing work in the area. The Alaska
Engineering Commission built 13 houses in the southwest portion of the neighborhood in 1915.

Loop Road had appeared by the 1920s, which connected Anchorage with the extensive farms
then operating north and northeast of town. The farms were acquired by the federal government
in the late 1930s to create Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson. The Alaska Railroad
subdivided the remainder of the reserve not taken by the military in 1945 and 1946. Scores of
World War II-era surplus and prefabricated buildings, such as Quonset huts, Loxtave houses
(developed by the U.S. Navy) and Harman houses were moved onto the lots. A small number of
these original structures still exist in the neighborhood today, virtually all of them west of Loop
Road. (“Government Hill (Anchorage).” In Wikipedia, retrieved June 17, 2011).


The William H. Harman Corp., based in Wilmington, Delaware, began producing prefabricated
steel houses in 1947. The structure was approved by the National Housing Agency and was
granted one of the first guaranteed market contracts offered by the Housing Expediter. Harman
had been an executive with Baldwin Locomotive Works where, with chief engineer Max Essl,
he became interested in producing locomotives out of thin sheets of steel stretched over light
metal frames (the “monocoque system”). In 1943, Harman and Essl started the Harman Corp.,
to develop and fabricate galvannealed steel houses using the monocoque system. They began
mass-producing homes after enactment of the Wyatt veterans’ emergency housing program in
1946. In 1947, two- and three-bedroom homes sold for $3542 to $4039, while final costs with
assembly were typically $7500 to $9000. (See “’Bill’ Harman Delivers his Factory House,”
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Sep 1947, p. 45-46)

In the 1940s, Carl Strandlund obtained a government loan to produce steel homes with
porcelain coated exterior panels, steel framing and steel interior walls and ceiling. He founded
the Lustron Corporation and built approximately 2,498 Lustron Homes in his plant in
Columbus, Ohio. (“What is a Lustron,” http://www.lustronconnection.org/whatislustron.html.
Retrieved June 17, 2011.)

Lloyd E. Brewer was born June 2, 1914 and died Oct. 13, 1994, in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Scope and Content Description:
The collection consists of 59 black-and-white photographs, one photographic postcard, and 5
color photographs. The images document the construction of four Harman houses in the
Government Hill neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, as well as scenes of downtown
Anchorage. The postcard shows the Alaska Railroad Depot in Anchorage. The color photos
show the Harman houses in 2005, located at 243 W. Cook, 255 W. Cook, 944 Delaney, and 928
Delaney.

Arrangement:
Not applicable


CONDITIONS GOVERNING ACCESS AND USE

Restrictions on Access: The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Original items in good condition.

Technical Access: No special equipment is needed to access the materials.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use:
The Anchorage Museum is the owner of the materials and makes available reproductions for
research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Anchorage
Museum before any reproduction use. The Anchorage Museum does not necessarily hold
copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may
require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.



Preferred Citation:
Lloyd E. Brewer Photographs; Anchorage Museum, B2005.023


ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Acquisition and Appraisal Information
Delivered to archives by Museum volunteer Pam Schlenk on June 17, 2005. Five color photos
of the houses, taken in 2005 by Museum volunteer Opal Meyers, were donated by Schlenk in
June 2012.

Notes
Photographs apparently removed from scrapbook before donation; one image damaged (.14).
Some captions written on versos are not fully legible due to paper and glue residues. Dates from
loose mailing label included in original envelope.

RELATED MATERIALS


SUBJECTS
Architecture, Domestic—Alaska—Anchorage
Prefabricated houses—Design and construction
Anchorage (Alaska)
Government Hill (Anchorage, Alaska)


Detailed Description of the Collection

B1/F1
. 1- [?] works with his shirt off to get a sun tan. He only worked one day for us. [shirtless man
in snow with shovel]
 2 — [?] of the fellows [?] snow off of the cellars the left one is colored the one on the right is a German Eskimo [two men shoveling snow]
 3 — [version of .2]
 4 — This is how deep the snow was on the floor taken close up [two men shoveling snow, house in background]
 5 — [version of .4]
 6 — This is the closest house to us [building pad in foreground, several houses in background]
 7 — [version of .6]
 8 — Here I have three fellows shoveling snow off the foundations [four men shoveling snow]
 9 — [version of .8]
 10 — Another cellar waiting to be shoveled off
 11 — [version of .10]
 12 — This is out over the [?] the units [view of Knik Arm, Cook Inlet, from Government Hill, snow on ground]
13 — [version of .12]
 14 — This is the bulldozer [?] from around the houses [bulldozer moving snow]
 15 — [version of .14]
 16 — This is [?] from one house. Those are the closest to the job [view across open land to Chugach Mountains in distance, two houses in background]
 17 — [version of .16]
 18 — [two men with ladder near home under construction, two men looking on]
 19 — [three men standing in front of home under construction, one wearing coveralls]
 20 — [five men standing outdoors, three wearing hats and two wearing neckties, trees in background]
 21 — [two men walking past home under construction, ladder propped against building]
 22 — [young man standing in doorway to home, holding a tool and a prefabricated piece of steel]
 23 — [two young men outdoors mixing paint or primer, home under construction in background]
 24 — [two men standing next to a home under construction, trees, building in background]
 25 — [gravel road, trucks, two buildings]
 26 — [view of Knik Arm, Cook Inlet, from Government Hill, building and fence in foreground]
 27 — [view of downtown Anchorage, Ship Creek, from Government Hill, shed in foreground]
 28 — [two homes under construction]
 29 — [man using sawhorse next to home under construction]
 30 — [home under construction]
 31 — [two homes under construction, porches being attached]
32 — [three homes under construction, porches being enclosed, man near sawhorses]
33 — [three homes under construction, construction materials in foreground]
 34 — [three homes under construction, automobile parked near one building, Knik Arm, Cook Inlet in background]
 35 — [two homes under construction]
 36 — [home under construction, two automobiles parked outside]
 37 — [home under construction, paint cans on ground]
 38 — [man and woman exiting porch of home under construction]
39 — Lustron Home
 40 — [home under construction, framing going up]
 41 — [home under construction, four men framing roof]
 42 — [home under construction, truck, construction materials in foreground]
 43 — [home under construction, walls and roof completed]
 44 — [home under construction, construction materials in foreground]
 45 — [three homes under construction]
 46 — [three homes under construction, view of Knik Arm, Cook Inlet, in background]
47 — [home under construction, windows and chimney completed]
 48 — [home under construction, windows covered with paper]
49 — All 4 [fours home under construction]
 50 — This is the main st in Anchorage [4 th Avenue, Hotel Lane, Air Travel, Davis Liquor Store, 4 th Ave Liquors, pedestrians, automobiles]
 51 — Here is Arts Club, 515 Club [4 th Avenue, Anchorage, Ship Creek Market, Reed’s, 515 Club, Gilman’s Bakery]
 52 — [Reed’s, 515 Club, 4 th Ave, Anchorage]
 53 — [4 th Ave, Anchorage, Rexall Drugs, Cheechako Tavern, pedestrians, automobiles]
 54 — [4 th Ave, Anchorage, Walt’s Transfer, Koslosky and Sons, Quality Market, D & D Bar and Café, Frisco, automobiles, crowd outside D & D]
 55 — [4 th Ave, Anchorage, Northern Commercial Company, automobiles]
 56 — [5 th Ave, Anchorage, Loussac-Sogn Building, Paul’s Jewelry, pedestrian]
 57 — This is taken from the same window but a little more to the left. You can barely see the mountains in this picture but they are there [Anchorage Tent and Awning, pedestrian, automobiles, Chugach Mountains in distance]
 58 — This is taken from the apt window where [?] now nothing [?]. See the snow caps in the distance, the snow is beginning to melt off [?] and sliding down more. I [?] these do not have ice in the summertime [Anchorage, Ambassador Club, General Engineering Service, market, gun shop, automobiles, Chugach Mountains in distance]
 59 — [version of .50]
 60 — [Photographic postcard] R-513 Alaska Railroad Depot, Anchorage, Alaska, c. Robinson. [Shows Government Hill in background. Includes manuscript correspondence from Lloyd Brewer to Larry Paul Brewer, postmarked April 16, 1949]
61 — 243 W. Cook [photo by Opal Meyers]
62 — 255 W. Cook [photo by Opal Meyers]
63 — 944 Delaney [photo by Opal Meyers]
64 — 928 Delaney [photo by Opal Meyers]
65 — 928 Delaney [photo by Opal Meyers]