Meyer Meat Market Building, 495 State Street, Skagway, Skagway, AK

STORED ON SITE. mchr
This survey was originally located in the Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area. The name of the county was changed to Skagway.
Significance: In 1899, Herman Meyer, a butcher from Seattle, Washington, built a new structure for his meat business. He rented out the Fifth Avenue storefront to the Brown Shoe Company which operated here from 1900 to 1902. In 1900, a new rush to Nome diverted miners from the Klondike and Skagway's economy faltered. The Brown Shoe Company went out of business in 1902. In 1900 ,Meyer founded the Arctic Telephone Company and began installing telephone poles and lines with the intent to serve at least 200 telephones. He operated this business out of his meat market. Meyer sold his meat business in 1902 to the Carstens Brothers Packing Company of Seattle, who continued to operate the Arctic Meat Company until at least 1909. Carstens purchased the adjacent YMCA Gymnasium (built 1900), moved it to face State Street and connected it to the south elevation of the Meyer Building with a passageway. The gymnasium was converted to a cold storage facility to serve the Arctic Meat Company. In 1921, George Rapuzzi purchased the YMCA Gymnasium from the City of Skagway, which has taken ownership. In 1922, he bought the Meyer Building from the Carstens and used both buildings as a garage and later storage. The Rasmuson Foundation of Anchorage purchased both building an donated them to the National Park Service.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1912
Survey number: HABS AK-228
Building/structure dates: 1899 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000943