Pribilof Islands Historic Preservation and Environmental Restoration

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Aleut Laborers' Housing
St. George Island

Return to Seal Islands Historic District National Historic Landmark

National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form text:

Housing on St. George, in keeping with the company nature of the community, came in three varieties: (I) Wood frame, one and one-half story with gable roof and arctic entry; 1920s-1930s; (II) Same basic house type as (I), only concrete; 1930s (only two of these built because St. George Island lacked gravel for concrete); (III) larger frame houses, same basic type, all with green asphalt siding; 1940s-1950s (Faulkner 1986).

Supplemental information provided by NOAA:

Native Inhabitants
1913. House No. 8 was said to be the oldest house on St. George in 1913 when it was torn down. At the time four houses were considered too small for the families living therein. One family consisted of husband, wife, and six children; another, of husband and wife and seven children. These two family homes were enlarged with the addition of bedrooms built on the outside, and they were still considered too small. In a third home, the family numbered twelve in size. The house, considered one of the largest on the island, was described as having a kitchen and three rooms, all of which were being used as sleeping rooms. The largest room measured 11x12 ft., the next 9x11 ft., and the other 7x11 ft. It was said that the houses on St. George were essentially the same type as those on St. Paul (Evermann 1914, 152).

1918. Natives occupied two newly constructed houses (Bower 1919, 80).

1921–22. Construction on the first of two concrete dwellings for the Aleut Natives began in 1921. Both dwellings were completed and occupied in 1922. Each contained a “roomy vestibule, kitchen, living room, and three bedrooms on the first floor, and space for two small bedrooms on the second floor” (Bower 1922, 53; Bower 1923, 83).

1923. A concrete duplex was constructed in 1923 (Bower 1925a, 112).

1927. One four-room and three five-room wood frame houses were constructed during 1927. According to the record, “The limited supply of sand and gravel makes it impracticable to construct any considerable number of concrete buildings on this island” (Bower 1928, 146).

1928. Ten four-room, wood frame houses on concrete foundations were constructed in 1928 (Bower 1929, 298; Bower 1931, 74).

1929–1930. Two five-room, two four-room, and two three-room Native homes were constructed (Bower 1930, 309).

1938. Three, three-room wooden frame houses were constructed for Aleuts in 1938 (Bower 1940, 148).

1948. Construction began on two new Native homes (U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service 1952, 45).