Alaska City Mulls Razing Site Where 1st State Flag Flew

A building that remains at the site of the Jesse Lee Home in Seward, Alaska, where the territorial flag, which later became the Alaska state flag, was first flown. Dorene Lorenz via AP

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—The fate of one of Alaska’s most historic yet neglected structures may be decided on July 13 as officials in the city of Seward weigh whether to demolish a former Methodist boarding school where the Alaska territorial flag was first flown almost a century ago and where its Alaska Native designer lived.

Benny Benson was among the orphans and displaced children who lived at the Jesse Lee Home, many of whom were sent there after the Spanish flu devastated Alaska Native villages. Benson, a 13-year-old Aleut boy sent to the home after his mother died of the flu, won a territory-wide contest in 1927 to design the flag, which became the state flag after statehood was granted in 1959.