Alaska Pacific Consolidated Mining Company. Independence Mine.

Independence Mine in Hatcher Pass, Alaska, was purchased in 1937 by two mining companies which merged to form the Alaska Pacific Consolidated Mining Company. The mining operation was the largest hard rock gold mining operation in Southcentral Alaska. Walter M. Stoll directed the operation and later became general manager and then president of the company. The top production year was 1941, but gold mining efforts ceased during World War II. Efforts to reopen the mine after the war failed. In 1980, the Alaska state government acquired the mine buildings and 271 acres around them. The Independence Mine State Historic Park officially opened in 1982.