In May 1909, Cordova was beginning to really change. According to the Cordova Daily Alaskan, “… Messers, Heney and Hawkins, who arrived yesterday, took the train immediately after lunch and went out to the front … Mr. Heney informed us that it was more men and more work from now on … this was the time to get busy … the ice was expected out of the rivers this week, and the steamboats would be in operation in a few days which will be a big help in moving things on up the line … more men and more work will be the password from now on.”
A review of a 1909 paper makes it apparent that new businesses were sprouting up every day and targeting the increasing numbers of railroad men that Heney and Hawkins were bringing in. The Pioneer Concert Hall offered moving pictures every evening and advertised that they were the ‘home of the railroader.’ Featured was a meal and a schooner of beer for 25 cents.
“Now is the time,” offered the advertisement of Jos. F. Diggs Store, the leading store in Cordova. “… we will help you make wash day more easy, by supplying you with the best [w]ringer made, or a splendid stand to hold two of your best galvanized tubs; or we can supply you with a good substantial ironing board, which certainly saves time and labor, and of course you cannot get along without a copper-bottom boiler …”
This memory is brought to you courtesy of the collection from the Cordova Historical Society held in the Museum.
