Summary: | On verso of image: Aug. 16, 1902. Eagle, Alaska. Mayor's Residence Filed in Alaska--Cities/Locations--Eagle John W. and Edwin H. Pomeroy were from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and came to Alaska in 1898. John was born ca. 1867 and Edwin ca. 1877. In 1900, they listed their occupations in Alaska as miners and their occupations outside Alaska as real estate and student, respectively. Eagle is located on the left bank of the Yukon River at the mouth of Mission Creek, 6 miles west of the Alaska-Canada boundary. It was established as a log house trading station called "Belle Isle" by Moses Mercier about 1874 and operated intermittently until its development as a mining camp in 1898. The village, then with a population of about 800, was platted and named "Eagle City" for the American eagles nesting on nearby Eagle Bluff. The Eagle post office was established in 1898 and the Valdez-Eagle telegraph line was completed in 1903. The U.S. Army established the "Eagle City Camp" in 1899 at Eagle. A year later Fort Egbert was built; it was abandoned in 1911. Eagle currently has a population of about 140 and many older buildings have been preserved. [Source: Donald Orth. Dictionary of Alaska Place Names: Geological Survey Professional Paper 567. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1967.]
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