When Fairbanks founder E.T. Barnette grounded his sternwheeler, the Lavelle Young on the banks of the Chena River in 1902, his lodging options were extremely limited (haha). The site of his landing would eventually become downtown Fairbanks, but at the time, it was nothing but trees. Flash ahead 100 years. If Barnette were to step off his boat in the exact same location today, instead of entering a forest, he would be walking in the lobby of the Bridgewater Hotel!

The site of the Bridgewater Hotel was once home to another property, the Pioneer Hotel. Built in 1906, the Pioneer Hotel housed a number of prominent guests. President Warren Harding stayed at the hotel during his brief stop in Fairbanks in 1923. In 1935, Wiley Post and Will Rogers stayed at the Pioneer Hotel the night before their fateful trip to Barrow. Their plane went down during takeoff from a tidal lagoon near Barrow (due to an uncontrollable spin). Wiley Post, one of the most famous aviators in the world at the time (made a solo flight around the world), was flying the bright red Lockheed Orion Sirius Explorer on floats.