The Ester Camp Historic District consists of 11 buildings and three structures located in or near Ester, Alaska

Ester, Alaska

Ester is a census-designated place in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the 'Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 2,422 at the 2010 census...

. The camp was added to the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1987, and is significant for its importance in Alaska mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 history. The periods of significance are 1900-1924 and 1925-1949. It is under private ownership and was operated as the Ester Gold Camp until its closure in 2007. Buildings include a former blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

 shop, the Malemute Saloon (so named in 1958 by then-owner Don Pearson and a reference to the Robert Service

Robert W. Service

Robert William Service was a poet and writer who has often been called "the Bard of the Yukon".Service is best known for his poems "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee", from his first book, Songs of a Sourdough...

 poem, The Shooting of Dan McGrew), a few wanigans used for employee cabins and a hat shop, and the mess house/hotel.