Editing Ester, Alaska (section)

==History==
===Early history and founding===
Ester was originally a [[gold mining]] camp on Ester Creek, with the first [[land claim|claim]] staked in February 1903 by Latham A. Jones. Jones worked with the Eagle Mining Company, the biggest claimholder on Glen Gulch in the [[Rampart, Alaska|Rampart]] mining district, but it was an independent miner, John "Jack" Mihalcik, a [[Czechoslovakia]]n immigrant born in 1866, who was the first person to actually discover gold in Ester Creek. Mihalcik staked his claim in November 1903 but the news of the discovery of gold did not become public until the following February. By 1907, Ester City had a population of around 200 people, with a thriving mining industry. A social hall was completed in 1907 and was well-known throughout the mining district for its dance floor. The hall was used for religious services as well as dances, movies, card games, parties, and other entertainment purposes. The town had five saloons and two hotels. In 1908 and 1910, the hall was the site of campaign speeches by candidates for the seat of Territorial Delegate. (Labor won in 1908, but Judge [[James Wickersham]] won the Ester precinct in 1910.) By 1909, Ester City had a baseball field, a doctor, a mine workers' [[trade union|union]] local, and a teacher, but gold production was beginning to decline.

The Berry Post Office moved in 1910 from near the Berry brothers' claim about two miles downstream from Ester City into J.C. Kinney's general store in Ester. The post office retained the name of Berry until 1965, when it was finally changed to that of the town it had been in for 55 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esterrepublic.com/Archives/mreckard6.html |title=1.10 Berry Post Office on Ester Creek |publisher=Esterrepublic.com |access-date=June 18, 2012}}</ref> In the mid-1920s, the [[Fairbanks Exploration Company]] began buying claims on Ester Creek, started operations in 1929, and in 1933 built a mess hall for their camp in Ester. The buildings are now a historic landmark used until 2008 as a tourist attraction, restaurant, and hotel. The F.E. Company revitalized the town, reshaping it to do large-scale [[open-pit mining]] using enormous floating [[dredge]]s and [[dragline]]s. In the process, much of the original sites of Berry and Ester were removed.

===Since 1940===
The Ester Community Association was founded in 1941. In 1958, The F.E. Company sold their Ester camp, and it reopened under new management as a historic resort. The Cripple Creek Resort, which later became the Ester Gold Camp, featured a musical variety show including [[Robert W. Service]]'s poetry, held the Malemute Saloon, a local bar, featuring Service's poem, "[[Wikisource: The Shooting of Dan McGrew|The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]", until the resort closed in 2007. The Malemute Saloon continues to operate on selected weekends during the summer, and often features live music by local bands. In 1974, the Ester Volunteer Fire Department was officially founded after nearly a century of bucket brigades. Gold mining continued on a small scale. In 1986, the Ester Community Association, working with the Fairbanks North Star Borough, built the Ester Community Park, which became a local center of social activity. In 2017, the Ester Community Association purchased the park from a local resident, holding chili feeds, music festivals, and other fundraising events.

In 1987, the eleven surviving buildings of the F.E. Company's camp were listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris"/><ref name=NRHP>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=87000703}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Ester Camp Historic District / Cripple Creek Resort |author=Wendy H. Arundale |date=1986 |publisher=National Park Service|access-date=January 26, 2015}} with {{NRHP url|id=87000703|photos=y|title=21 photos}}</ref>

In 1988, ''Mushing'' magazine began publication in Ester and continued to be produced and published there until it was sold in 2005. The town became the site of a [[sled dog]] stage race between Ester and [[Nenana, Alaska|Nenana]] and back again, the Fireplug Sled Dog Race, which was held for ten years, from 1990 to 2001, and in which many famous mushers participated, including Dean Seibold and [[Jeff King (mushing)|Jeff King]]. In January 1999, the town's first newspaper, ''[[The Ester Republic]]'', was founded by Deirdre Helferrich; it was published regularly until 2015, and now is published sporadically. In August 1999, the [[John Trigg Ester Library]] (JTEL) opened a membership library named after a local resident who had started a book exchange in a nearby bar. In 2012, the JTEL received a donation of a local log cabin built in the 1940s and relocated many of its holdings to the new space. Today, the village features two saloons, five publishers, a library, a community hall, a secular chapel, a post office with its own zip code (99725), silversmiths and other artisans, numerous art studios, about two dozen homes, most of which were built by their owners, and three active gold mines. There is a fire station, a small store, and a secular chapel on the outskirts of the village.

The Ester Historic Society was founded in 2018. Its collection was donated by local residents and contains historical photographs, letters, and other documents. Along with the John Trigg Ester Library, the Ester Historic Society hosts talks and book readings about Ester and the surrounding area.