ohn Todd Cunningham was born in Grand Island, Nebraska in 1888. He moved to Anchorage in 1916 to take up the position of chief clerk of the Alaska Railroad. Upon arriving in Seward, he rode the train until it ran out of track and hiked the remaining eighty-five miles to Anchorage, behind a freight sled traveling over Indian Pass.
Eva Lockhart came to Valdez in 1901 with her mother, B. Belle Lockhart, and moved to Anchorage in 1916. She met J. T. Cunningham that same year, and they were married the next. They had two children, Dorothy, born in 1918 and J.T. “Todd” Cunningam, Jr., born in 1922.
In 1918, J.T., Sr. was made trainmaster and served in that position until 1923, when he was promoted to superintendent of transportation. In 1948 he was made assistant general manager and retired the following year to California. Upon his retiring from the Alaska Railroad, J. T. was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the United States Department of the Interior.
John Todd Cunningham, Sr. died in 1959 and Eva died in 1967. Their daughter, Dorothy Cunninham Dublirer, had three children, Jeffrey Gibley, Carol Gibley Addy and Susan Hirzy. Son J.T. “Todd” Jr. had no children, and he died in 2004.
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- John Todd Cunningham, born in 1888. Died 1959.
- The Cunninghams’ first home, Alaskan Engineering Commission quarters, on Government Hill, 1916.
- Eva Lockhart Cunningham, born in 1894. Died 1967.
- House under construction on 2nd Avenue, 1917-1918.
- John T. and Eva Cunningham, circa 1950.
- Alaska Railroad management staff, 1929.
- Dorothy Cunningham Dublirer, born in 1918.
- Completed home purchased by the Cunningham family, 1928.
- J.T. “Todd” Cunningham, Jr., 1922-2004.
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