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Photographs of Work on Nome Harbor During Break-Up Album, 1921
Overview of the Collection
- Title
- Photographs of Work on Nome Harbor During Break-Up Album
- Dates
- 1921 (inclusive)19211921
- Quantity
- 28 photographic prints (1 folder)
- Collection Number
- PH0607
- Summary
- Photographs of the spring ice breakup in the Nome, Alaska, harbor, 1921
- Repository
-
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Selections from the collection can be viewed on the Libraries' Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials curator required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.
These photographs were placed into a handmade album. The cover has come off the album and the album pages have come apart.
- Languages
- English
Historical BackgroundReturn to Top
In Alaska, the spring ice breakup is a noisy and very important event that signals the beginning of the season of boat transportation. Until the advent of airplanes, ships were the most efficient mode of transportation to remote areas. Frozen harbors and river channels hinder water transport in winter. In spring, ice is pushed downstream as a river or stream thaws, sometimes breaking into flows that build on top of each other. The resulting piles can cause great damage. This damage may be to the natural environment such as the riverbanks or river bottoms. It can be so severe as to change the course of the main channel or even the entire waterway. Ice can also destroy any man-made objects in its way including piers, wharves, or seawalls. If the ice is pushed onto land, it can also destroy any buildings near it. By using explosives, channels can be "cut" in the ice to direct where it goes as it flows downstream. Once the waterways have been cleared of ice, boat transportation is again possible.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
This collection contains photographs taken during the spring 1921 breakup of the ice in the Nome, Alaska harbor. The photographs show the process of man-made channels being blasted in the ice, the thickness and extent of the ice, the natural breakup of the ice, and the river as it is opened.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Title PageReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Folder | ||
1 | Photographs of
Work on Nome Harbor During Break-Up |
Spring, 1921 |
Blasting OperationsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Folder | item | ||
1 | 1 | Beginning
operations |
|
1 | 2 | Cut
uncovered |
|
1 | 3-4 | 1921 | |
1 | 5 | 1921 | |
1 | 6 | Piling ice to
turn stream across bar |
|
1 | 7 | 1921 | |
1 | 8 | 1921 |
Thickness and Extent of the IceReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Folder | item | ||
1 | 9 | Height of ice at
end of jetty |
|
1 | 10 | 1921 | |
1 | 11 | Width of ice
between cut and jetty |
|
1 | 12 | Height of ice
on revetment |
Breakup: Ice Moving in ChannelsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Folder | item | ||
1 | 13 | 1921 | |
1 | 14 | 1921 | |
1 | 15 | 1921 | |
1 | 16 | 1921 | |
1 | 17 | Ice conditions
at outer end of channel |
|
1 | 18 | Channel after
ice was gone |
|
1 | 19 | 1921 | |
1 | 20 | North end of
jetty during breakup |
|
1 | 21 | 1921 | |
1 | 22 | 1921 | |
1 | 23 | Ice jammed at
end of bar |
|
1 | 24 | 1921 | |
1 | 25 | Blast in gravel
on bar alongside jetty |
After the River has OpenedReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Folder | item | ||
1 | 26 | Looking north
from jetty after river has opened |
|
1 | 27 | Looking south
from range light after river has opened |
|
1 | 28 | 1921 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Ice breaking operations--Alaska--Nome--Photographs
- Ice on rivers, lakes, etc.--Alaska--Nome--Photographs
- Jetties--Alaska--Nome--Photographs
- Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)
Geographical Names
- Nome (Alaska)--Photographs
- Nome River (Alaska)--Channelization--Photographs