Palmer Museum Archives Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman Newspaper Collection

The Palmer Museum maintains a collection of materials from the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, a newspaper serving Alaska's Matanuska and Susitna Valleys since 1947. The museum holds 21 editions and article clippings from this publication, which also produced a tourist guide in the late 1960s. The archival inventory spans from 1979 to 2010, with significant focus on the Matanuska Colony Project, a New Deal-era agricultural settlement established in 1935. Key items include coverage of the 1979 Alaska State Fair, a 1980 time capsule discovery in Palmer, and multiple 1985 articles commemorating the colony's 50th anniversary. Later materials document the 70th anniversary in 2005 and profiles of colonists like Lee Hartley in 2010. The collection includes PDF documents accessible through the museum's website, featuring articles about colony coins called 'bingles,' historical barn relocations, and the opening of Colony Village at the Alaska State Fairgrounds. This archival resource provides historical documentation of regional development, agricultural history, and community life in the Mat-Su Valley.