Near Creek Street (Alaska Route 7) north of Stedman Street.
Beatrice Greene; the last working woman
For half a century, this house, like so many on the Creek, was part of Ketchikan’s notorious red light district where both fish and men came upstream to spawn… the fish once, many of the men . . . — — Map (db m112041) HM
Near Mill Street, on the left when traveling east.
The cultural traditions and stylistic glories of Northwest Coast Native artists go back centuries. But the historical period of (obscured) and curating — mainly by non-Natives — is relatively short. Totem poles by tradition were private . . . — — Map (db m182030) HM
Ketchikan's notorious Creek Street, early Alaska's most infamous red-light district, still retains traces of the gaudy rouge of a half-century of speakeasies and sporting women. Here the fame of Black Mary, Thelma Baker and Dolly Arthur . . . — — Map (db m182103) HM
On Dock Street at Mill Street, on the right when traveling west on Dock Street.
Totem poles are carved to honor deceased ancestors, record history, social events, and oral tradition. They were never worshipped as religious objects.
This totem, carved by Israel Shotridge and raised in 1989, is a replica of the Chief . . . — — Map (db m79703) HM
Totem poles are carved to honor deceased ancestors record history, social events, and oral tradition. They were never worshipped as religious objects.
This totem is the second replication of the Chief Kyan Totem Pole. The original pole was . . . — — Map (db m70746) HM
On Creek Street at Stedman Street (Alaska Route 7) on Creek Street.
Ketchikan’s notorious Creek Street, early Alaska’s most infamous red-light district, still retains traces of the gaudy rouge of a half-century of speakeasies and sporting women. Here the fame of Black Mary, Thelma Baker and Dolly Arthur outlived . . . — — Map (db m112039) HM
Near Mill Street east of Bawden Street, on the left when traveling east.
The Christian cross was planted in Ketchikan's shoreline in 1897, when the settlement was only a creekside collection of Native homes and a trading site for the first white businessman in the area. The missionary priest who staked an ecclesiastical . . . — — Map (db m182004) HM
On Stedman Street north of Thomas Street, on the right when traveling north.
Laws restricting Chinese and Japanese immigration in the 1920s resulted in a wave of Filipinos coming to work in Ketchikan's booming canneries. These “Alaskeros,” as they called themselves, began to live here permanently and make long-lasting . . . — — Map (db m182101) HM
Near Creek Street (Alaska Route 7) north of Stedman Street, on the right when traveling north.
Dolly Arthur… one of the Creek’s longest “working” residents
This house was the home of Dolly Arthur, Ketchikan’s most famous “sporting woman.”
From 1919 through the 1940s, it was also her place of business.
Dolly, whose given name . . . — — Map (db m112038) HM
On Front Street at Water Street, on the right when traveling south on Front Street.
At the turn of the century, Ketchikan's pioneer townsite sprouted up from the base of a rugged, uncleared rocky mountainside where it meets deep tidewater. The downtown business district was literally built upon pilings and planked decking, with . . . — — Map (db m181910) HM
The Politics of Prohibition pitted the U. S. Constitution's well-meaning 18th Amendment — which banned the manufacture, sale or transportation of liquor — against the ingenuity of the moonshiners and bootleggers who found ways to satisfy the . . . — — Map (db m182102) HM
On Creek Street at Stedman Street, on the right when traveling north on Creek Street.
In spite of its more respectable Stedman Street address, this building — along with its Creek Street neighbors — was one of the earliest houses of prostitution, built soon after the Town Council banned prostitution to this side of the Creek. . . . — — Map (db m182042) HM
On Front Street at Water Street, on the right when traveling south on Front Street.
Shipments of iced halibut from Ketchikan to outside markets was pioneered by F.J. Hunt and H.C. Strong, following similar successful methods with salmon, and a thriving business was built through the construction of two large cold storage . . . — — Map (db m181914) HM
On this site over 100 years ago, a 22-foot waterwheel turned, creaked, and groaned to power the Ketchikan Shingle Mill. It was an ingenious creation of pioneer Austin “Ott” Inman.
Inman and his partner, Charles Borch, first used the mill as a . . . — — Map (db m182074) HM
Near Front Street at Mission Street, on the right when traveling south.
The Revenue Cutter McCulloch is docked near Northern Machine Works (left) and a Japanese barkentine is at anchor on the south end of the wharf near the Ketchikan Spruce Mills (right) to purchase fish. Also visible is St. John's Episcopal . . . — — Map (db m181984) HM
On Stedman Street south of Creek Street, on the right when traveling north.
Adventurous Japanese-Americans George and Yayoko Shimizu immigrated to Ketchikan in search of opportunity. Around 1903, they opened the New York Café on downtown Front Street.
Ketchikan was divided racially then. Whites lived north of Ketchikan . . . — — Map (db m182073) HM
On Stedman Street south of Creek Street, on the left when traveling south.
Around 1900, adventurous Japanese pioneer George Ohashi came to Ketchikan and opened the New York Café on Front Street. This was the beginning of a three-generation Ohashi family career of entrepreneurial activities.
In 1907, Ohashi built this . . . — — Map (db m182044) HM
On Front Street at Mission Street, on the right when traveling south on Front Street.
For thousands of years, water has been the common highway for all Northwest Coast Natives. Living at the edge of dense rain forests of great cedar, spruce, and hemlock along one of the world's richest sea coasts, their dependence upon seafood . . . — — Map (db m181977) HM
Near Mill Street, on the left when traveling east.
A city arose at the mouth of Ketchikan Creek early in the 20th century, where Native people had camped for uncountable centuries to fish and hunt, houses, stores, hotels and sawmills uprooted the rainforest skyline in a sort of land-rush flurry of . . . — — Map (db m182027) HM
On Front Street at Mill Street, on the right when traveling south on Front Street.
[Left side, top to bottom]
(Top photo) Illegible
The young city of Ketchikan (remainder illegible)
The Sideboard Saloon was operated by town co-founder Mike Martin from early in the century until 1917, when the . . . — — Map (db m181993) HM
On Front Street at Spruce Mill Way, on the right when traveling south on Front Street.
E pluribus funum
Independence Day was a bang-up community affair in early-day Ketchikan. In the midst of busy summertime, the Stars and Stripes provided a common denominator for diverse frontier folk. July Fourth inspired considerable . . . — — Map (db m181996) HM
One of Ketchikan's oldest buildings and the Territory of Alaska's only registered brothel.
Infamous owner “Black Mary” Thomas added a dance hall with an inlaid star in the floor, giving the building its name.
Thelma Baker Graham bought the . . . — — Map (db m182087) HM
On Front Street at Mission Street, on the right when traveling south on Front Street.
Hundreds of proud sailing vessels once plied Alaskan waters, but the passing of the wail was swift & complete. As the new Era of the Steamship began to dominate the sea lanes in the late 1890's, Alaska's booming early salmon trade inspired the . . . — — Map (db m181943) HM
On Stedman Street south of Creek Street, on the left when traveling south.
Across the great divide: Stedman started apart
Ketchikan Creek formed a dividing line in Ketchikan in the early 1900s. To the north, white pioneers' homes, schools and churches stair-stepped up the hill and businesses crowded the waterfront. . . . — — Map (db m182050) HM
On Stedman Street at Thomas Street, on the right when traveling north on Stedman Street.
Kichirobei (“Jimmy”) Tatsuda and his wife, Sen Seike, started a combination grocery store, pool hall, tobacco shop and boarding house in 1910.
In 1916, the Tatsudas opened their first grocery store in a nearby building. It was truly a family . . . — — Map (db m182093) HM
On Stedman Street south of Creek Street, on the left when traveling south.
Stedman Street was a congenial place for Japanese immigrants and their families up to the 1940s. Japanese-born miners, fishermen, laborers and entrepreneurs settled across the creek from downtown and founded families. Japanese-Americans from the . . . — — Map (db m182058) HM
On Front Street at Spruce Mill Way, on the right when traveling south on Front Street.
Our fire department: From buckets to pumpers
Ketchikan Fire Department started in 1900 with a bucket brigade. You were a member if you had a bucket and could carry it full of water. Such rudimentary protection was inadequate in a bustling . . . — — Map (db m181985) HM
On Front Street at Water Street, on the right when traveling south on Front Street.
“Thundering Wings” — the title of local master carver Nathan Jackson's magnificent cedar monument, depicts the Tlingit native origin of Ketchikan's name, as told by Chief Reynold Denny of the Beaver Clan:
“About three hundred years ago the . . . — — Map (db m181908) HM
On Front Street at Mission Street, on the right when traveling south on Front Street.
Prior to the 1870s, only a hardy handful of explorers, traders, whalers and sealers worked Alaska's rugged coastline. Following the 1867 purchase of the Territory from Russia, regular boat service from U.S. ports to Sitka began on a monthly . . . — — Map (db m181965) HM