The front of the Don Sheldon Building | |
Location within Alaska | |
Former name |
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Established | 1967 (1967) |
Location | Wasilla, Alaska |
Coordinates | 61°34′39″N 149°32′42″W / 61.5774°N 149.5450°W / 61.5774; -149.5450 |
Type | Transportation museum |
Website | www |
The Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry is a transportation museum located near Wasilla Airport in Wasilla, Alaska.
History
Background
As part of the 1967 Alaska Centennial celebrations, an effort was begun to collect the history of Alaskan aviation. In June of that year, the Centennial Aviation Progress Museum Committee first met under the chairmanship of Jack Peck. However, within a year the project was taken over by the state, which expanded the scope to all transportation in Alaska. It was developed into the Centennial Train – six former World War II troop cars with exhibits that toured the state. Afterwards, it was placed on display next to the museum.
Fire and move to Palmer
On 5 September 1973, the museum was destroyed by a fire. 85 to 90 percent of the collection, including at least seven airplanes and many other vehicles, were lost. The museum was already suffering from financial problems before the fire and requested funding from the state to help it recover.
It moved to an 8,000 sq ft (740 m) building the Alaska Stair Fairgrounds in Palmer in 1976 where it became the Alaska Historical and Transportation Museum. The funding from the state; $80,000; came through the following year.
Move to Wasilla
However, in 1985, the Alaska State Fair announced it would not renew the museum's lease when it ended in 1987. As a result, the museum changed its name to the Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry and began searching for a new location. In October 1990, it began moving to 10 acres (0.040 km) it purchased on Jacobsen Lake near Wasilla.
Exhibits
Exhibits at the museum include radio communication vacuum tubes, automobile fuel and the Whitney Section House. There are also collections of vehicles including snowmobiles, and agricultural machinery.
Collection
Aircraft
- Bell UH-1H Iroquois
- Cessna UC-78
- Convair F-102A Delta Dagger
- Douglas C-47A Skytrain
- Douglas DC-3A
- Fairchild C-123J Provider
- Kaman UH-2B Seasprite
- Piasecki CH-21B Workhorse
- Rand Robinson KR-1
- Sikorsky H-5H
Rail vehicles
See also
References
Footnotes
- Ironically, a different aviation museum, the Pioneer Air Museum, ended up being located at Pioneer Park, which was the site of the centennial.
- A display of moon rocks lost from the museum after the fire was recovered by the Alaska State Museum in 2012.
- In the meantime, the museum had received parts of three Curtiss P-40 Warhakws that had been illegally removed from Unalaska and Umnak Islands in 1986.
Notes
- "Museum Seeks Aid to Obtain Vehicles". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. 24 February 1973. p. A-7. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "About MATI". Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- Evans, James R. (1 February 2022). "Museum Fire Destroys Early Alaskan Planes". Anchorage Daily News. Archived from the original on 1 February 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2023 – via Fire Engineering.
- Joling, Dan (6 December 2012). "Alaska Reclaims Moon Rocks Taken in 1973". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Fate of Transportation Museum Left for Alaska Legislature". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. AP. 20 November 1973. p. 2. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Council Memorandum No. 91-34" (PDF). City of Wasilla. 4 June 1991. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Free Conference Committee Report, Fiscal Year 1978, Operating and Capital Budget" (PDF), Legislative Finance Division, retrieved 17 December 2023
- "Museum Changes Name, Seeks Home". Daily Sitka Sentinel. AP. 19 September 1985. p. 6. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Transportation Museum to Move". Sitka Daily Sentinel. AP. 10 October 1990. p. 10. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Plane Parts to Be Given to Museum". Daily Sitka Sentinel. AP. 18 September 1986. p. 6. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Collections". Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry. Archived from the original on 17 September 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Gallery". Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- "Airframe Dossier - Bell UH-1 Iroquois, s/n 66-17044 US, c/n 9238". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Airframe Dossier - Cessna UC-78 Bobcat, s/n 43-5744 USAAF, c/n 5064, c/r N44793". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Airframe Dossier - Convair F-102A-65-CO Delta Dagger, s/n 56-1282 USAF, c/n 8-10-229". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Airframe Dossier - Douglas C-47A, s/n 43-15200 USAAF, c/n 19666". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Airframe Dossier - Douglas DC-3A-360, s/n 41-18482 USAAF, c/n 04574, c/r N101Z". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Airframe Dossier - Chase-Fairchild C-123B-14-FA Provider, s/n 55-4558 USAF, c/n 20219, c/r N3144W". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Fairchild C-123J Provider N98". Rod's Aviation Photos. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- "Airframe Dossier - Kaman UH-2B Seasprite, s/n 150185 USN". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Airframe Dossier - Piasecki CH-21B Work Horse, s/n 53-4362". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Airframe Dossier - Rand KR-1, c/n 13FK13, c/r N5552". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- "Airframe Dossier - Sikorsky H-5H, s/n 49-2001 USAF". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- Combs, John. "[Untitled]". John's Alaska Railroad Webpage. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- Combs, John. "[Untitled]". John's Alaska Railroad Webpage. Retrieved 17 December 2023.