The Early Days • The History Around You

The Early Days . The History Around You. Downtown Historic District. , When a Tlingit leader, Kawa.ée (Kowee), in 1880 guided Joe Juneau and Richard Harris to gold deposits near here, the resulting gold rush put a new town on the map. Named for Joe Juneau, it was the first new settlement after Russia sold Alaska to the United States. Buildings sprang up to serve the miners on both sides of the Gastineau Channel. Some gold was free for the panning, but most of the treasure was locked up within the surrounding mountains. Major mining companies formed to develop hard-rock mines. Miners came from all over the world, bringing their families and turning the boomtown into a permanent community., Juneau incorporated in 1900, and soon after Congress declared Alaska to be a Territory of the United States. Because Juneau had become the center of America's Alaskan business activity, the territorial capital moved from Sitka to Juneau in 1906. Soon there was a governor in residence and a territorial legislature meeting here. Alaska's population was centered in Southeast Alaska until after World War II. The population center then shifted north due to the permanent military presence, the advent of jet aircraft, and the discovery of oil on the North Slope. Juneau, Alaska's capital city, now is the third largest city in the state, following Anchorage and Fairbanks., Photo captions, top to bottom, read] , . Juneau, early 1880s., . Kawa.ée, . Richard Harris, . Joe Juneau , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , [Stylized map of downtown Juneau], [Illustration captions, clockwise from top center, read], Last Chance Mining Museum , Originally the support buildings for the , Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company , End of Basin Road . Built 1914-1916, Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church , 326 Fifth Street . Built 1893, Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company Mill , Uphill from South Franklin Street , Built 1915-1917, Alaska State Capitol , Originally the Alaska Territorial and Federal Building , 120 Fourth Street . Built 1931, Juneau Douglas City Museum , Originally the Juneau Memorial Building , Statehood Celebration held here in 1959 , 114 West Fo[u]rth Street . Built 1951, For more information about Juneau's history , please visit the Juneau-Douglas City Museum , and the Last Chance Mining Museum..