Passenger Traffic

Passenger Traffic. Sea and Sky: Juneau's Links to the World. Steamships brought passengers as well as goods. During the heyday of steam travel, there was a ship at the dock almost every day. In 1918, the Canadian Pacific Line's Princess Sophia was bound for this harbor when the ship foundered on a reef and sank. All 353 people aboard were lost., Today, cruise ships bring in hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. To ensure safe navigation of Alaska's Inside Passage, pilots with local knowledge board each cruise ship or cargo vessel and join the captain in the wheelhouse. Smaller boats take the pilot to meet the incoming ship, which the pilot often has to board by climbing a rope ladder with wooden steps. This is no easy feat in seas that move the two vessels up and down, not always in unison. A pilot repeats the transfer in reverse from each outbound ship., Captions , (Left) The Princess Sophia in Gastineau Channel. (Early Prints Collection, Alaska State Library, PCA 87-1699) , (Right) , . Tourists – then called "excursionists” – came early to Juneau. Here, dressed for adventure, a visitor poses on the Juneau dock. Telephone Hill and Mt. Juneau stand in the background. (C. L. Andrews Collection, UAF 1972-154-195) , . A menu from an early passenger steamer featured art by local artists. Even then, good food was a featured attraction. (Early Prints Collections, Alaska State Library-M61-08) , . Luggage Label Juneau-Douglas City Museum Collection