Fairbanks has seen several disastrous floods. 1905, 1911, ’30, ’37, ’48, ’67, ’92 & 2008. In fact, there was a time when the Cushman Street bridge, which crosses the Chena River, was rebuilt every spring when the rushing river wiped out the bridge after the ice went out.

Here’s a photo of the high water mark in the 1930 flood of the old Samson Hardware. Notice they were a CAT & Ford dealer back then. In fact, they were also a Willys-Overland dealer at one point.

The old Northern Commercial Company power plant is across the river in the background. Oddly enough, the remnants of the NC Company, NC Machinery, is the current CAT dealer, and they have a shiny new building on Van Horn.

Photo courtesy of The University of Alaska Archives