Central as Camelot: The Crabb Years, 1982-2002

August, 2007: Reviewing the Crabb's photo collection

2007-08-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Jim Crabb and Gus Lindquist review the Crabb's photo collection—and the stories beind them— in Central during Gus's trip to Interior Alaska for six weeks in July and August of 2007.

Gus had driven up earlier on Saturday, August 4th, to attend the Miner's Picnic that afternoon at the Circle Mining (District) Museum.

There was plenty of roasted pig to feed the crowd of hungry miners and their families and friends.

I wanted the gold, and I sought it,
I scrabbled and mucked like a slave.
Was it famine or scurvy -- I fought it;
I hurled my youth into a grave.
I wanted the gold, and I got it --
Came out with a fortune last fall, --
Yet somehow life's not what I thought it,
And somehow the gold isn't all.

No! There's the land. (Have you seen it?)
It's the cussedest land that I know,
From the big, dizzy mountains that screen it
To the deep, deathlike valleys below.
Some say God was tired when He made it;
Some say it's a fine land to shun;
Maybe; but there's some as would trade it
For no land on earth -- and I'm one.

-from The Spell of the Yukon by Robert Service

2006: Old Geezer Reunion - July 22

2006-07-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

Note: Click on the photos to enlarge them.
And
If you haven't already—read theWelcome Message to this blog.

Jim and Sandy Crabb invited their many friends from the Camelot years to join them in a reunion potluck picnic at their place in Central, Alaska, on Saturday afternoon, July 22. It promised to be—and was—an authentic Alaska event etching the memories of those who came.

Alaskans and tourists, sourdoughs and chechakos gather.

Jim and Sandy make ready and help serve their guests

Gus Lindquist, an unabashed perptual tourist, gets special service on an Alaskan hot dog.

Good friends together again in Central, Alaska, a very special place.

Bill Kingston, another frequent visitor to Central during the Camelot years, drove up with his friend, Elizabeth Miller.

Gus rode with Bill and Elizabeth. Here they are having lunch in the Steese Roadhouse in Central.

The drive up the Steese Highway on Saturday and back on Sunday took the trio through mountains painted with fireweed in the aftermath of a forest fire.

The Steese Roadhouse, on the right, is the center of the community, on the Steese Highway, taking up the northeast corner of its intersection with the road to Circle Hot Springs. It was named Crabb's Corner during the Camelot years. On the left, Jim and Sandy meet their friends in the Roadhouse Saturday evening.

Circle Hot Springs is closed, and has been for a few years, having a major—some say catastrophic—impact on the economy of Central. Note added August 26, 2009: Jim Crabb is developing Nugget Gulch at the Circle Hot Springs, reviving one of the major amenities of Interior Alaska.

This was Jim and Sandy's log cabin home in Central before they moved to Nugget Gulch. It's also on the Steese Highway, on the other side of the road to Circle Hot Springs from the Steese Roadhouse ... which was called Crabb's Corner during
the Camelot years.

Photos by Hilding "Gus" Lindquist
If you can identify anyone in the photos,
please send info to steesereview@gmail.com

1998: 4th of July Parade

2006-07-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

Note: Click on the photos to enlarge them.
And
If you haven't already—read theWelcome Message to this blog.

This is the first of what we hope will be many entries posted here over the coming months and years to commenorate "Central as Camelot: The Crabb Years, 1982-2002". At the Old Geezer Reunion (our name for it) Saturday, July 22, 2006, people brought their photos and memories of those years to share with each other. We hope to archive as many as possible here on this blog.

The parade starts, heading south ...
and the community gathers to watch.

A young boy gathers candy stossed from a float.

Alaska transportation ... old and new.
Note: Sandy Crabb is riding on the back of
the 4-wheeler in the bottom photo.

The community prepared a variety of floats.

Central Motor Inn had a float when it was open.

Jim Crabb drove his Crabb's Corner flat-bed float.

After traveling south on the Steese Highway to the end of town,
the parade turned around and came back through headed north.

Photos by Hilding "Gus" Lindquist
If you can identify anyone in the photos,
please send info to hglindquist@yahoo.com

Welcome!

2006-07-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

Don't let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment that was known
As Camelot.
-from Camelot
(See below)

Something special—as golden as the metal underfoot in the Circle Mining District—was happening in Central, Alaska, during the Crabb years, 1982 to 2002. Here in the homeland of miners since the days of the Klondike Gold Rush, Jim and Sandy Crabb owned and operated the bar/restaurant/store/gas station appropriately named and known throughout Alaska as Crabb's Corner.

This website is the repository of the history of those years, to remind us of the indomitable spirit of the men and women who have built communities governed by fairness and goodwill out of the awesome subarctic wilderness called Interior Alaska.

While you follow the thread of these years, weaving its rich tapestry in the lives of those of us who became a part of it, remember that this is but one period in the life of Central. Another has already begun, providing opportunity for a new generation to create a new pattern, equally as vibrant and strong as periods past.

And what a past! For the Camelot of the Crabb years also grew out of prior periods.

Here you can begin to study the past of Central, Alaska ... and by doing so, become part of its future. The lessons to be learned from the people who nutured this community into full bloom are ageless ... and priceless.

In short, there's simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot.

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/camelot/camelot.htm

ARTHUR:
Each evening, from December to December,
Before you drift to sleep upon your cot,
Think back on all the tales that you remember
Of Camelot.
Ask ev'ry person if he's heard the story,
And tell it strong and clear if he has not,
That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory
Called Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
Now say it out with pride and joy!

TOM:
Camelot! Camelot!

ARTHUR:
Yes, Camelot, my boy!
Where once it never rained till after sundown,
By eight a.m. the morning fog had flown...
Don't let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment that was known
As Camelot.

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/camelot/camelotreprise.htm