Kynocks

Nordenskiold Roadhouse

Robert Henry McDonald built the Nordenskiold Roadhouse in 1902 and operated it until 1910. The roadhouse was a two-story log building with a sod roof. Although the site was on the Overland Trail, it was almost 100 kilometres from Whitehorse and any accident could be serious. A note in the Nordenskiold Roadhouse guest book on December 18, 1903 reads "McDonald cut foot with axe - laid up for repairs".

A North-West Mounted Police detachment, called Kynocks, was erected across the road during the winter of 1902/03. The police who were here during the winter were transferred to detachments on the Yukon River for the summer. At the request of the Yukon Director of Public Works, a new bridge was built over the Nordenskiold River north of Kynocks by the sergeant and three constables stationed there in the fall of 1903. The original bridge, built the fall before, was unapproachable as a glacier had formed nearby and completely covered it. Kynocks was closed in 1905 after the Yukon force was cut back in numbers.

When Coates and Kastner won the mail service contract in 1920, White Pass & Yukon Route rented them the stable near McDonald’s Roadhouse. The entire complex burned in a 1958 forest fire.

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