photo above courtesy Patricia Brown. 1940s temporary housing in Mountain View.
In the 1940s, Anchorage, Alaska, was growing, and some homesteaders headed out of town to stake their claim to some land.
Norman Lange was just such a homesteader. Lange headed about 3 miles northeast from Anchorage to a spot that had a perfect view of the Chugach Mountains. Lange ended up subdividing his land and naming it, appropriately, “Mountain View.”
Other early homesteaders in Mountain View now have a neighborhood street named after them. Those include a Norwegian immigrant named Nels Kleven. For some reason, his street name was misspelled “Klevin.”
Robert Bragaw was a territorial legislator and photographer, and Harry Bliss was a contractor. Both have Mountain View streets named after them. But more about Bragaw Street shortly.
In the 1940s, construction workers and others were coming to Anchorage to build Elmendorf Air Force Base. But there was a big problem. Anchorage didn’t have enough housing to accommodate them.
As a partial solution, small temporary housing structures were put up in Mountain View (pictured above).
And speaking of Bragaw Street, you probably didn’t know that from 1942 until 1951, a man named John Vanover ran a 20-acre pig farm in the area.
Pictured above is Brewster’s on Mountain View Drive.
In 1949, Charles H. Brewster and his wife, Betty, opened the Mountain View Washaroo Laundry. But the Brewsters were ready for more, so they started selling clothing in their spare time from their log cabin home located in the Muldoon area of Anchorage.
Then in 1959, the two opened the first Brewster’s Clothing Store in a small log cabin at North Bragaw and Mountain View Drive. They later expanded and became an Anchorage fixture.
Yes, You Can Share this edition
And when you do, your friends and family will send you a year’s supply of your favorite bakery item. Yummy… well, it could happen.
In the picture above is Mountain View Elementary, first opened in 1956.
Mike of the Anchorage, Alaska Memories Club attended Mountain View Elementary School, and one summer, he was a pitcher for the Indians Little League team that practiced on the Mountain View Elementary School baseball field.
A&W Root Beer
In 1957, the first drive-in, A&W Root Beer, opened in Anchorage. It was located in Mountain View.
The location was also home to Timbo and Princess, the A&W lions.
BONUS
Take a look at A&W Drive-In Memories and enjoy.
In the photo above, taken by Ward Wells, is Mountain View Drive on July 2, 1958.
Notice the large building in the background? That’s Caribou’s Department Store.
The picture above is the original Clark Junior High School.
First opened in 1959, Clark Junior High School was the first junior high in Anchorage. Located on Bragaw Street, the school was named after Orah Dee Clark.
Clark was the very first schoolteacher and principal hired in 1915 in the new town of Anchorage, Alaska.
After Clark Junior High opened, Clark herself often visited the school, and students were able to speak with her between classes and after school.
Mountain View Community Center
In the 1960s, Mike of the Anchorage, Alaska Memories Club attended weekly square dancing get-togethers in the Mountain View Community Center. Mr. and Mrs. Topolski ran the dances.
During each weekly dance, they took a short break from square dancing and played some rock and roll for the kids to dance to. Mike of the Anchorage, Alaska Memories Club even got his first announcing gig one week when he was asked to play the rock and roll records and introduce each song.
“I remember playing “Harbor Lights” by the Platters. After I introduced the song and started the record, I looked down from the stage, and there were 3 or 4 girls looking up at me, all wide-eyed and smiling. Wow, my first fan club.”
Then one week, a well-known KENI radio DJ named Bob Fleming was the special guest at the dance. We had a great time at that community center.
In the photo above is the Anchorage teen band, the Heartbeats.
All but one of the Heartbeats band members were the Apostol brothers, and their family lived in Mountain View. Both Mary and Mike of the Anchorage, Alaska Memories Club were friends of the Heartbeats.
In 1966, the “Pulsating Heartbeats” released the hit record “Anne.” On the flip side of the record was “Talkin’ Bout You.”
BONUS
Get the story behind the Heartbeats band and hear their song, “Anne.”
Take a look at In John’s Own Words and enjoy.
Remember Park Lanes Bowling?
Beginning in 1976, Mountain View enjoyed bowling at this Anchorage favorite.
And for a short while, KTVA channel 11 broadcast the weekly TV show, “Bowling for Dollars,” hosted by Chuck Talsky and shot on location at Park Lanes. As a side note, Mike of the Anchorage, Alaska Memories Club was one of the camera operators on the show and also edited the program for broadcast.
Mountain View
We have 1940s homesteader Norman Lange to thank for our Mountain View memories.
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Until Next Time
Mike and Mary
Anchorage, Alaska Memories Club