Area around Old Seward and Huffman, including part of Oceanview, was the homestead of Tom Sperstadt. Jack Ass Lane (now called Silver Fox) was named after his donkey. He was one of the original developers of Oceanview. His dad homesteaded out around where AIA is now. State Manor and Hamilton Park were developed by Mr. Stephenson (ph pronounced as f) and Mr. Hamilton. Each have streets in the subdivision named after them.
Do you recall North 1st Street on Government Hill in Anchorage? It ran from Harvard Street at Brown’s Point to Bluff Road. It later became Delaney Street and Cook Avenue.
We lived at 212 North 1st Street.
I don’t recall a North 2nd Street or North 3rd Street.
The City of Anchorage planning department was in the process of standardizing street names and addresses in Anchorage. The street name “North 1st Street” was inconsistent with the other street names on Government Hill. All the other street names were names of early railroad employees, and there were no other numbered streets in the area.
An engineer from the city planning department had a question about North 1st Street and called Dad, Irvin “Pat” Cook, Chief Engineer of The Alaska Railroad. Dad was also on the city planning commission at the time.
The question posed to Dad was, “Is there another name for the street that you live on?” Without skipping a beat, on a lark, teasingly, Dad said, “Oh yes, it is Cook Avenue, named after me. All the streets on the West side of Government Hill are named after railroad employees.”
Thinking Dad was teasing, the city engineer thought the Cook Avenue name was after Capt. James Cook, the British sea explorer. The fact is the name Cook Avenue had never been used for North 1st Street. Dad was surprised to see his name posted on the new street signs and our address changed to 255 W. Cook Avenue.
I worked with a woman by the name of Dee Lane. She was apparently the daughter of the Lane you mention. She was intent on beautification of Anchorage especially the Mt. View area. She and I worked on the basic design of the park along McCarrey now known as Dave Rose Park. I know of nothing regarding the park that would tied Dave Rose to the park. I don't know if Lane is the same as in the Architectural Firm of Lane, Plunkett and Knorr. I knew Don Knorr. They actually did some work on a rehab of a building in SF where I was a principal of the firm Anthony M. Guzzardo aka TGP later in the 2000's. Several of the north/south streets in Wonder Park were named after Presidents of the UofA Fairbanks. The streets of "south Mt. View" changed frequently over the years. I've posted one of the original maps of "South Mt. View" on a couple of Anchorage web sites. The homesteads north of Debarr regrew as birch/spruce forest then new streets platted and named. Boniface has some historical write-ups as does Turpin (another homesteader)
According to the WWII draft registration, Harry Lee Lane was born July 1st, 1888 at Prince Edward Island, Canada. We was disabled in WWI. His wife was Eleanore and she is listed as the proprietor of the Cresent hotel in the 1940 census. The hotel was located at 246 Fourth ave. Harry died in 1956 and is buried at Anchorage Memorial cemetery.
Area around Old Seward and Huffman, including part of Oceanview, was the homestead of Tom Sperstadt. Jack Ass Lane (now called Silver Fox) was named after his donkey. He was one of the original developers of Oceanview. His dad homesteaded out around where AIA is now. State Manor and Hamilton Park were developed by Mr. Stephenson (ph pronounced as f) and Mr. Hamilton. Each have streets in the subdivision named after them.
Cook Avenue – How Cook Avenue Got its Name.
Do you recall North 1st Street on Government Hill in Anchorage? It ran from Harvard Street at Brown’s Point to Bluff Road. It later became Delaney Street and Cook Avenue.
We lived at 212 North 1st Street.
I don’t recall a North 2nd Street or North 3rd Street.
The City of Anchorage planning department was in the process of standardizing street names and addresses in Anchorage. The street name “North 1st Street” was inconsistent with the other street names on Government Hill. All the other street names were names of early railroad employees, and there were no other numbered streets in the area.
An engineer from the city planning department had a question about North 1st Street and called Dad, Irvin “Pat” Cook, Chief Engineer of The Alaska Railroad. Dad was also on the city planning commission at the time.
The question posed to Dad was, “Is there another name for the street that you live on?” Without skipping a beat, on a lark, teasingly, Dad said, “Oh yes, it is Cook Avenue, named after me. All the streets on the West side of Government Hill are named after railroad employees.”
Thinking Dad was teasing, the city engineer thought the Cook Avenue name was after Capt. James Cook, the British sea explorer. The fact is the name Cook Avenue had never been used for North 1st Street. Dad was surprised to see his name posted on the new street signs and our address changed to 255 W. Cook Avenue.
Pat Cook, Jr.
I worked with a woman by the name of Dee Lane. She was apparently the daughter of the Lane you mention. She was intent on beautification of Anchorage especially the Mt. View area. She and I worked on the basic design of the park along McCarrey now known as Dave Rose Park. I know of nothing regarding the park that would tied Dave Rose to the park. I don't know if Lane is the same as in the Architectural Firm of Lane, Plunkett and Knorr. I knew Don Knorr. They actually did some work on a rehab of a building in SF where I was a principal of the firm Anthony M. Guzzardo aka TGP later in the 2000's. Several of the north/south streets in Wonder Park were named after Presidents of the UofA Fairbanks. The streets of "south Mt. View" changed frequently over the years. I've posted one of the original maps of "South Mt. View" on a couple of Anchorage web sites. The homesteads north of Debarr regrew as birch/spruce forest then new streets platted and named. Boniface has some historical write-ups as does Turpin (another homesteader)
According to the WWII draft registration, Harry Lee Lane was born July 1st, 1888 at Prince Edward Island, Canada. We was disabled in WWI. His wife was Eleanore and she is listed as the proprietor of the Cresent hotel in the 1940 census. The hotel was located at 246 Fourth ave. Harry died in 1956 and is buried at Anchorage Memorial cemetery.