Marine Highway

Marine Highway. Sea and Sky: Juneau's Links to the World. Local ferries once plied a triangular route linking Juneau, Douglas, and Thane. These three communities, each centered on a major mine, eventually merged into one. In 1935, a bridge was constructed linking Douglas Island with the mainland., In 1963, the state of Alaska launched a ferry fleet. Called the Alaska Marine Highway System because it uses waterways rather than roads, the fleet links coastal Alaskan communities with one another, with Canada and the "Lower 48,” as Alaskans call the contiguous United States. The state ferries first docked at Juneau's downtown waterfront. The ferry terminal later was moved north, to Auke Bay, to eliminate backtracking around Douglas Island. All large vessels, including cruise ships, must go out the same way they come in because glacial silt creates shifting shallows farther up Gastineau Channel., Captions (left to right) , . The Flossie in Gastineau Channel. (Early Prints Collections, Alaska State Library PCA 39-0774) , . The Lone Fisherman. , . The MV Taku in Gastineau Channel. The "blue canoes” of the Alaska Marine Highway System used to dock right downtown. (Early Prints Collections, Alaska State Library, Ferry System-5) , . Stock certificate emblem Last Chance Mining Museum Collection