Linn A. Forrest

Oregon State Forester's Office Building

Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center

Linn Argyle Forrest, Sr. (1905–1987)[1][2] was an American architect of Juneau, Alaska who worked to restore "authentic Southeast Alaska Native architecture, especially totem poles". During the 1930s and the Great Depression, he oversaw Civilian Conservation Corps programs of the New Deal to preserve totem poles and other aspects of traditional, native architecture. In conjunction with a $24,000 U.S. grant to the Alaska Native Brotherhood as a CCC project, Forrest oversaw the construction of the Shakes Island Community House and totems at Wrangell, Alaska during 1937–1939. Drawing on this experience, he later wrote The Wolf and the Raven: Totem Poles of Southeastern Alaska, which has been printed in 20 editions.[3]

Forrest designed the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center,[4] the Juneau Federal Building[5] and, with Harold B. Foss, the nearby Chapel by the Lake.

He designed the Elvey Building[6] and the Ernest N. Patty Gymnasium (1963) at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.[7]

Forrest came to Alaska after working in the 1930s in Oregon, where he was the lead exterior designer of Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.[8][9]

Forrest is the architect of record of the Oregon State Forester's Office Building, at 2600 State Street in Salem, Oregon, constructed by CCC workers and craftsmen and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[10] At one time he worked for the architecture group within the United States Forest Service Northwest regional office.[11]

Forrest married and had a family. His son, Linn Forrest, Jr., also became an architect. Together the two men designed the original Alaska State Centennial Museum.[12]

References

1. Ritz, Richard Ellison (2002). "Forrest, Linn Argyle, Sr.". Architects of Oregon: A Biographical Dictionary of Architects Deceased – 19th and 20th Centuries. Portland, Oregon: Lair Hill Publishing. p. 134. ISBN 0-9726200-2-8.
2. "A History of the Architecture of the USDA Forest Service: Linn Argile Forrest". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
3. "Search Results | Sealaska Heritage Institute's Collections". collections.sealaskaheritage.org. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27.
4. "JuneauEmpire.com: Local: 40 years as a glacial gathering place 07/24/03". juneauempire.com. Archived from the original on 2003-08-12.
5. A cabin on the lake, Juneau Empire
6. Elvey Building - UA Journey
7. Hoagland, Alison K. Buildings of Alaska. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
8. "MRV Architects". MRV Architects.
9. "MRV History". www.mrvarchitects.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27.
10. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
11. E. Sail Throop (September 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Depression-Era Buildings / USDA Forest Service Administrative Buildings in the State of Oregon and Washington built by the Civilian Conservation Corps". p. 24.
12. "11 30 2010 State Museum DOE | PDF | Alaska".

External links

• Linn A. Forrest Photograph Collection, 1930s-1950s | Sealaska Heritage Institute's Collections
• Picasa collection of Linn A Forrest photos