Colony
House Museum |
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Online Projects:
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"Wish that you could come over and see our house," wrote colonists Irene and Oscar Beylund to friends in Wisconsin after their first Christmas in Alaska. Today the Palmer Historical Society issues the same invitation to you. In 1994, a group
of individuals in Palmer organized the Colony House Preservation Project Committee. Its goal - to restore a colony house
to its 1936 -1945 appearance. While this committee was not a part of PHS, some of our members participated in the project. In 1998 the project ws turned over to Palmer Historical Society for ownership, responsibility, watchful keeping, and operation. Located at 316 E. Elmwood Ave, near the
Visitors Center and within Palmer's Historic District, the house and
outbuildings display rural life in the Matanuska Valley during the heyday
of the Colony. While originally the home of Oscar and Irene Beylund
on tract 94, this house, one of five styles available, reflect an average
colonist family's home. The Matanuska Colony, the largest New Deal Resettlement
project, involved moving 204 families from the Midwest to the Matanuska
Valley to establish a farming community. An event of national interest
in 1935, it continues to fascinate the public, and is the subject of
a developing film documentary.
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