Researching Valdez, Alaska, during its early years, I came across an old postcard showing a street scene, which I believe to be either early morning or late at night, during the summer when the sun hardly goes down. Enlarging the picture, I was able to count only 4 people walking on the boardwalks in front of businesses.
My mother had a saying that fits this picture well. “They roll the sidewalks in at night!” As a kid, I didn’t know the meaning until I finally asked her. Mom’s reply was that after 6 o’clock, activity in small towns all but dies as the people seemingly disappear. She was talking about small towns in Alabama, not Alaska, as this postcard depicts, yet I suppose the same principle applied anywhere.
This vintage postcard was mailed from Ketchikan, Alaska, to a J.E. Steyer in Westminster, Maryland. It’s postmarked February 19, 1915. On the correspondence line, the following was written nicely in cursive:
“This is a street scene in Valdez Alaska
Florence Mercer
PO Box 127
Ketchikan, Alaska”
I researched Florence Mercer, finding she was the daughter of Anson Cary Mercer and Myrtle May Mercer. Florence Patrice was born in Spokane, Washington, on January 20, 1900. She lived in Ketchikan for a while, including Juneau, where she attended school. The young lady would’ve only been 15 when she mailed her postcard off.
In 1919, at the age of 19, Florence married George Francis Forrest Jr. Her spouse’s father, George Francis Forrest Sr., was one of early-day Juneau’s movers and shakers, being involved in many business endeavors as well as local politics.
The elder Mr. Forrest eventually sold all business interests in Alaska, relocating to Seattle, where he had a new business going there. His son and daughter-in-law eventually followed.
Unfortunately, not long after moving, the elder Forrest died of a heart attack at the age of 56, on July 31, 1925. His death certificate says that the cause was acute indigestion, but the man was known to have serious heart trouble.
George Francis Forrest Jr. evidently didn’t have the business savvy of his dad, not taking over where the old man left off. The younger son worked as a stevedore at the Seattle docks until retirement. Florence Patrice Forrest died in 1954, with her husband passing 2 years later in 1956.
Valdez has changed considerably since this postcard was made. The Good Friday, March 27, 1964, earthquake all but destroyed Old Town Valdez. My family visited in 1967, still able to see the massive destruction. The city was rebuilt in another location.
The memory of Florence Mercer still lives on courtesy of this postcard and my research. As to the recipient of the card, J.E. Steyer of Westminster, Maryland, there are too many possibilities to pin any one person down here. I guess it’d be safe for me to say—J.E. is the young man who didn’t get Florence Patrice Mercer’s hand.
I like to write junk... 