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beauty and spirituality of the area.
During the Nome Gold Rush in the early 1900s, RICH IN HISTORY
miners were attracted to the site but disregarded
the traditional use rules. Claimed in 1905 under the The Carrie McLain Memorial Museum
Homestead Act, the area changed ownership twice.
A saloon, dance hall and roadhouse were built at the
site that burned in 1908. Subsequently, the property This long-term exhibit collaborated with
was deeded to Judge George Schofield, who in turn over 50 community members who shared
deeded it in 1917 to the Provincial of the Jesuit stories, artifacts and photographs around
Province of California as a gift for a Catholic mission. five major themes: subsistence in the Arctic
The Catholic Diocese of Nome acquired the Pilgrim environment, mining, the built landscape,
homestead, and Our Lady of Lourdes Orphanage transportation, and sustainability. Immersive
and 14 other structures were built. A staff of around exhibits connect the past with contemporary
20 priests, nuns, and other workers ran the facility, narratives as visitors can step inside a miner’s
which housed about 100 children annually, the first of tent, operate a gold dredge, see an Inupiat
which primarily orphaned by the 1918 flu epidemic, skin boat, listen to audio recordings in
followed by diphtheria and tuberculosis outbreaks. Arriving in Nome in 1905, 10-year-old Nome’s first phone booth, and watch a film
Catholic priest Father Bellarmine LaFortune had Carrie McLain was fascinated with this on tales of Nome’s early days.
begun relocating the mission at the village of Mary’s frontier gold rush town. Over her lifetime One of the more popular exhibits is
Igloo to Pilgrim Hot Springs when the global Spanish she collected bits and pieces of Nome “Fritz”, the preserved Siberian husky dog
who was musher Leonhard Seppala’s lead
Flu pandemic hit the Nome region. Over half the history: photographs, miners’ clothing, dog during the 1925 Serum Run. The Serum
population of Mary’s Igloo passed away as a result. household items, such as opera glasses and Run transported diphtheria medicine by dog
Numbering between 60 and 70, the deceased were doilies and items made for tourists, such as sled across 674 miles in just five and a half
transported by dog team for mass burial in a sandy an ivory carved cribbage board with reindeer days, saving Nome and surrounding villages
area near the hot springs that was not frozen ground. and dogs. This eclectic collection became from the outbreak. People commemorate
Geothermal heat was used for the buildings and the backbone of Carrie’s traveling museum. the Serum Run every year with the Iditarod,
gardens were developed. Combined with the natural Today, the museum is housed in the beautiful a dogsled race from Anchorage to Nome
abundance of fish, wild plants, and game, the mission Richard Foster Building, which also houses through some of the harshest, most
was largely self-supporting. After more than 20 years the Kegoayah Kozga Library, and the Katirvik spectacular landscape mother nature offers.
of operation and the decline of orphans in need, the Cultural Center. Two galleries, archival Whether you are in Nome for the gold,
mission closed down in 1941. A series of caretakers storage, a conservation lab for its thousands the Iditarod or even their world class birding,
looked after the Pilgrim Hot Springs property until it of artifacts, and a visiting research room this first class museum should be on your list
was purchased by Unaatuq. make up the museum space. to see as it preserves the past, educates the
Many of the original orphanage structures and The 3,200 square foot main gallery space present, and inspires the future for everyone.
large two-story church are still standing although in displays the exhibit, “Nome: Hub of Cultures For hours of operation visit
a state of deterioration, and work has begun to restore and Communities Across the Bering Strait.” nomealaska.org
the buildings.

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