What is the Wendler Building?
This is the oldest permanent building in Anchorage, dating back to 1915!
What Makes It Historical?
With the temperance movement on the rise in Alaska in the early 1910s, Anton “AJ” Wendler gave up his brewery in Valdez and moved his family to the up-and-coming railroad town of “Tent City,” which was just being laid out in 1915. There, Anton and Florence Wendler teamed up with Ray Larson to buy a plot of land at Fourth Avenue and I Street and build the budding city’s first grocery store! It made a real splash as one of few two-story buildings downtown, with the extra bonus of a hexagonal Victorian turret on top!
This only served as a grocery store until 1920 when Mr. Larson left to found a different business and Mr. Wendler got a job as head of cold storage for the Alaska Engineering Commission. It was a warehouse longer than it was a grocery store, converted into apartments by Florence in the mid 1930s and refurbished by Eugene Sedille of hotel annex fame. From 1948 until 1982, though, the building served as a social club, Club 25, originally women-only but later open for all who wanted to sign up.
After Florence died, her daughter, Myrtle, donated the building to the city, which had the whole thing moved several block away to its current spot on D Street. Today, the Wendler Building serves as headquarters of the annual Fur Rendezvous Festival!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Become a member of the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous!
- Become a member of the Cook Inlet Historical Society!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
400 D St
Anchorage, AK 99501
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
The Wendler Building is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 AM until 4:00 PM!