Lathrop Hall
1860 Tanana Loop
UAF photos by Sierra Coley
Austin E. Lathrop Residence Hall opened in 1962 as on-campus housing for 134 male students. It subsequently became a coed hall.
Since 2007, Lathrop has alternated between use as a residence hall, administrative
offices and visitor housing. Most recently, Lathrop returned to service as a coed
residence hall for undergraduates in fall 2024.
Austin E. "Cap" Lathrop was born in 1865 in Michigan. Lathrop, a businessman with
interests in freighting, coal mining, banking, theaters, real estate, newspapers and
radio, was for a time the territory’s wealthiest resident. In 1924, his Alaska Moving
Picture Corp. produced "The Chechahcos," the first feature-length film shot entirely
in Alaska.
He was named to the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines Board of Trustees in 1933. In 1935, when the college was renamed, the trustees board became the University of Alaska . Lathrop served until his death in 1950.