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This Library of Congress photo shows the U.S.S. Maine, which exploded and sank in the harbor at Havanna, Cuba, about the same time the Kings County Mining Company’s ship, the Agate left Brooklyn for Alaska. The Maine incident prompted the start of the Spanish-American War and complicated the mining company’s attempt to sail around Cape Horn.

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Mary Penney and Her 1898 Alaska adventure — Part 4

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Mary L. Penney and a group of other gold-seeking stockholders in the Kings County Mining Company…

These pinto beans and rice only take about 10 minutes of hands-on work before they are stewed for about 12 hours in a cooking pot. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)

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A complete meal for when you’re pinching pennies

My mother always kept a large tub of rice and beans, provisions she called “struggle food.”

Years Ago

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Years Ago

Homer happenings from years past

The bark (or barque) called the Agate, which carried members of the Kings County Mining Company from Brooklyn, New York, to Cook Inlet, was probably similar to this three-masted barque featured on Wikipedia.

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Mary Penney and her 1898 Alaska adventure — Part 3

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Before Mary Lovett Penney boarded the Kings County Mining Company’s three-masted sailing ship, the bark Agate,…

This takeout favorite is deceptively easy and comes together faster than it can be delivered. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)

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A sweet and sour dinner for 3

I really wanted some sweet and sour takeout this weekend, but all my favorite restaurants are far outside…

These poached pears get their red tinge from a cranberry juice bath. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)

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A dessert to stimulate the senses

These crimson-stained cranberry poached pears offer a soft and grainy texture.

Photo courtesy of the Penney Family Collection Mary L. Penney, one of only two women known to have joined the Kings County Mining Company’s 1898 expedition to the gold fields of Alaska.

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Mary Penney and Her 1898 Alaska adventure — Part 2

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The failed 1898 gold-seeking expedition to the Kenai Peninsula by the Kings County Mining Company has…

Years Ago

Community

Years Ago

Homer happenings from years past

Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion Sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cauliflower, kale, onions and buckwheat are served in this rich, healthy salad.

Community

Sweet potato salad for the soul

This salad is exciting, complex, and has a much kinder kale to carb ratio.

Drew O’Brien explores the ruins of the Kings County Mining Company’s cabin near Skilak Lake, circa 1999, about a century after it was constructed alongside a then-unnamed stream. (Photo by Clark Fair)

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Mary Penney and Her 1898 Alaska adventure — Part 1

By Clark Fair

Years Ago

Community

Years Ago

Homer happenings from years past

Former Homer News Editor-in-chief Michael Armstrong poses for a photograph Oct, 26, 2024, in Wilmington, Vermont. (Photo by Janet Shook/courtesy)

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Aging gracefully

Debuting a new column from the Homer News former editor.

Cecil Miller took leave from Akron (Ohio) Police Department to join the U.S. Navy Seabees during World War II. When he returned to the force after his military service, he was featured in an October 1945 article in the Akron Beacon Journal.

Community

The Man Called ‘Greasy’ — Part 2

AUTHOR’S NOTE: In 1948, after nearly a quarter-century in law enforcement in Ohio, Cecil Miller, his wife Dorothy…