Episode 14 with Ralph Alley

We pick up the thread in 1965. Ralph’s solo architectural practice is getting into high gear! By this time he has moved out of his bedroom at home and into leased office space downtown. Ralph and three collaborators make a trip to Valdez to try to convince the local leaders there to modify their plans to rebuild the town. He is busy with several house projects for clients who were displaced by losing their houses in the earthquake damage in the Turnagain neighborhood.

Lowell Thomas, Jr. and his wife Tay [shown here in 1958 with their airplane] were one of Ralph’s clients whose house was destroyed in Turnagain in the 1964 earthquake.

Episode 13 with Ralph Alley

With the continuing cleanup and demolition of the city following the March 27 earthquake, in 1964 outsiders moved in to get involved with the rebuilding. In time they would transform the city, expanding the commercial and institutional parts far beyond the existing downtown and small outposts. There was much debate and discussion — and disagreement — on how the city should develop and how it should look and feel. The quake was at least a boost to Ralph’s career — confident of continuing work, he finally left Manley & Mayer for solo pursuits.

Oil tanks on fire in Seward, Alaska a few minutes after the shaking stopped on March 27, 1964. Photo courtesy Philip Richardson, from Facebook.

A “cob job” concrete block building failure, downtown Anchorage. Photo courtesy Grover Wright, on Facebook.

Bootleggers Cove looking back toward downtown from near the west end of 9th Ave. in 1964. Photo courtesy Grover Wright, from Facebook.

Four Seasons Apartments at 9th and M. Photo courtesy Gregory Robinson, on Facebook.

3rd and 4th Avenues looking east from E St. in 1964. Photo courtesy Kay Thomas, on Facebook.

Turnagain neighborhood, extensive damage due to liquefaction of blue clay layers below the surface. Photo courtesy Grover Wright, on Facebook.

Turnagain “split level”. Photo courtesy Grover Wright, on Facebook.

The 4th Ave. Theater, once the grandest movie palace in the north has been mothballed since 2004. The Bob Hamilton-designed penthouse apartment is visible on the roof. Beyond in the background, the Key Bank Building that was damaged in the Nov. 30, 2018 quake is undergoing a gut renovation and addition. Photo by Clark Yerrington, 12/14/21.

The Empress Theater used to sit in the portion of this building behind the yellow cab. It was used as a bank and then various restaurants and bars after being decommissioned as a theater in the ‘60s, and torn down in 2013 after 97 years on its 4th Ave. site. Photo by Clark Yerrington, 12/14/21.

Land’s End on the tip of the Homer Spit in 1961. This would be what Ralph saw on his visit a couple of years later. Photo from Steve McCutcheon Collection, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center.

Lands End post-quake in 1964. Photo from Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center.

Lands End in 1964 after being raised up on cribbing. A small boat harbor was created on part of the end of the spit and the excavated soil used to build up adjacent areas where the land was lowered by the quake and then further eroded by the tides. Photo from University of Alaska Anchorage, Consortium Library, Archives and Special Collections.

Photo from University of Alaska Anchorage, Consortium Library, Archives and Special Collections.

The Salty Dawg Saloon on the Homer Spit in 1961. Photo from Steve McCutcheon Collection, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center.

The Salty Dawg in 1964 after the earthquake, suffering similarly to Lands End. The building was also elevated and the land filled in underneath. Photo from Robert and Wilma Knox Papers, University of Alaska Anchorage, Consortium Library, Archives and Special Collections.

The Salty Dawg on 7/20/82. It looks better presently, having been maintained well in recent years. Photo from Delores Mann, University of Alaska Anchorage, Consortium Library, Archives and Special Collections.

April 10, 1964 front page of the Anchorage Times with lead story on post-quake tidal flooding on the Kenai Peninsula. Photo courtesy Roberta Carney, on Facebook.

The former Bob Hamilton-designed FAA offices at 6th Ave. and G St., now Anchorage City Hall. Photo by Clark Yerrington, 12/14/21.

The city of Anchorage acquired the building in 1992 and the remodel design was by Koonce Pfeffer Architects. This addition at the back of the building provided a loading dock and covered entrance. The doors here and on the 6th Ave. side, opposite were painted yellow in homage to the color of the original building. Photo by Clark Yerrington, 12/14/21.

Tyonek Buildings by Mayo and Coolidge Architects, 16th Ave. and C St., part of the expansion of commercial activity beyond 4th and 5th Ave. in the 1960s. Photo by Clark Yerrington, 12/14/21.

“None grander in Anchorage [in 1964].” Main campus building at Alaska Methodist University. Edward Durell Stone Architect; Manley and Mayer, Associated Architect. Photo by Clark Yerrington, 12/14/21.

Episode 12 with Ralph Alley

More about life in Anchorage in the days and weeks following the 9.2-magnitude earthquake March 27, 1964. A lot of freezing in the dark, suffering through aftershocks and dealing with a wrecked city. Ralph and Dick Mayo venture into the debris of Dick’s former rooming house, now pitched at a near 45-degree angle to retrieve Dick’s personal effects.

The Denali Theater at 4th Ave. and B St. sunk 10 feet into the ground as a result of the quake. Dick Mayo’s rooming house was nearby to this location. Edith and Edward Lindsay papers, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Photo courtesy Grover Wright, on Facebook

Debris from destroyed buildings, looking east down 4th Ave. from C St. on April 24, 1964.

Page from the Alaska Sportsman Magazine earthquake issue.

JCPenney building, 5th Ave., across the street from Ralph’s office building and National Guard patrol officers.

4th Ave. and C St. Buildings cleaned out and ready for demolition. Photo courtesy Grover Wright, on Facebook.

This photo and next two: downtown Anchorage street where ground failure buckled and sunk all the houses on the block. W. 5th Ave. and K St. vicinity. Photos courtesy Grover Wright, on Facebook.

Total devastation in Anchorage’s Turnagain neighborhood. Photos courtesy Grover Wright, on Facebook.

Sign in Valdez, AK with the names of the people who perished in the quake and tsunami.

Episode 11 with Ralph Alley

Ralph Alley and his housemate Dan were about to begin their weekly workout regimen when they were interrupted by the mightiest earthquake ever to hit North America. The State of Alaska, City of Anchorage and the lives of all inhabitants would never be the same again. Ralph provides a firsthand report about what it was like, during and after this insane event.

This video goes into a lot of detail of the effects of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami on Kodiak. Valdez, Cordova, Seward and other coastal towns had similar chaos and damage — in some cases worse than seen here [difficult to imagine!].

The Hillside Apartments, 16th Ave. and G Street. Ralph and his friends walked over here and helped residents retrieve cats, dogs and belongings from the apartments. This is the north side and on the south side the damage to parts of the building was more extreme. Photo from Judith and Malcolm McDonald papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Damage in the Turnagain neighorhood was extensive, with 75 houses completely destroyed. Some that remained intact ended up being moved to other places in Anchorage with better underlying soil conditions. There were few deaths in the earthquake but some of them were here in Turnagain. Photo from Ward Wells Collection, Anchorage Museum.

A two or three long section of the north side of the city’s main street, 4th Avenue sunk between 10 and 20 feet, buckling buildings, streets and sidewalks. The south side of the street [on top of the hill] was mostly OK and some of the buildings are still there today. New buildings were built in the subsidence zone years later after the bluff was stabilized with driven sheet piling. Photo from Ruth A.M. Schmidt papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

A man reads news accounts of the seismic event. Photo from Robert and Wilma Knox papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Anchorage woman boiling snow for water. Water, sewer, electric and other utilities were damaged and it took several weeks to repair and gradually reconnect them. Photo from Robert and Wilma Knox papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

The Hewitt’s Drug Store building that dated from the 1920s was damaged beyond repair and torn down in late 1964. Ralph moved out of a second floor apartment here less than a month before the quake.