The pavement may end but your journey through time begins.
Today the cues to the past on the trail ahead are obscured by vegetation. Close examination of this 1939 photograph reveals features along the trail head of you.
Note the . . . — — Map (db m283002) HM
Power in a Pipe
This steel pipe carried water over one mile from
Nugget Creek to the Nugget Creek Powerhouse.
In 1910, the Treadwell Mining Company bought the
water rights to Nugget Creek from miner Ben Bullard
for $10,000. The . . . — — Map (db m282869) HM
President Harding stood here in 1923
July 10, 1923 was proclaimed a holiday by Juneau Mayor Izzy Goldstein. The reason? President Harding, "the first US President to visit the territory of Alaska while in office, arrived in Juneau aboard the . . . — — Map (db m282872) HM
Rock features reflect the area's increased
recreational popularity.
Thirsty visitors walking the sparsely vegetated
the 1930s viewed the silt laden glacial
water
in the drainage below.
A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) . . . — — Map (db m282910) HM
Similar to a super-size coffee cup, the foundry ladle transferred molten metal at the Treadwell foundry and pattern shop, the first one north of San Francisco, in operation 1888-1917. It took a month to ship parts, so the foundry . . . — — Map (db m258134) HM
Pelton wheels are among the most efficient types of water wheels. It was invented by Lester Allan Pelton (1829-1908) in the 1870s, and is an impulse machine, meaning that it uses Newton’s second law to extract energy from a jet of fluid. It . . . — — Map (db m70762) HM
In 1880 a local inhabitant, Chief Kowee, revealed to prospectors Joe Juneau and Richard Harris the presence of gold in what is now named Gold Creek in Silver Bow Basin. The city of Juneau was founded there that year. The strike sparked the Juneau . . . — — Map (db m70765) HM
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 repeatedly.
Its most infamous resident was . . . — — Map (db m112041) HM
Twenty to fifty closely related clan members lived together; working, eating and sleeping under one roof. Lets look back a couple hundred years and see what life was like inside a clan house. Watch Your Head As we step through the low, narrow . . . — — Map (db m310989) HM
Northwest Coast Natives traditionally decorated items ranging from the most utilitarian objects to the grandest totem pole. They used natural colors and distinctive design elements on totem poles, canoes, dishes, ceremonial garments, bentwood boxes . . . — — Map (db m310969) HM
A totem pole, freshly carved, painted, and newly erected, has only just begun to take on its shape. Through Wind & Rain After years of exposure to the Southeast Alaskan climate, the poles at Totem Bight have been continuously carved by nature, . . . — — Map (db m311067) HM
Eight stars of gold on a field of blue - Alaska’s flag may it mean to you; The blue of the sea, the evening sky, The mountain lakes and the flowers nearby; The gold of the early sourdough’s dreams, The precious gold of the hills and streams; The . . . — — Map (db m311104) HM
This historic anchor was discovered in 2020 while removing an underwater rock formation.
Time and oxidation have given this iron anchor the appearance of driftwood. The top is broken off where the "stock", a wide
crossbar, was once . . . — — Map (db m284690) HM
Before the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897, there was the Silver Rush: a fierce contest on the North Pacific Coast for glittery, meaty Alaskan salmon. In the late 1880s, nearly 40 canneries operated in Alaska. They flooded the market and barely a . . . — — Map (db m308944) HM
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
Kootéeyaa (totem poles) are carved to honor ancestors, commemorate significant events, and to proclaim the lineage of a clan. They were never worshipped as religious objects. This totem pole, carved by Tlingit master carver Israel Shotridge . . . — — Map (db m310703) 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, carved by Israel Shotridge and raised in 1989, is a replica of the Chief . . . — — Map (db m79703) HM
If you look in the distance to the tall, salmon-colored building, you will see the Chief Johnson totem pole. This masterpiece of the carver's art tells the story of Fog Woman and her role in the annual return of salmon. Carved in 1989 by Israel . . . — — Map (db m258172) 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
Natives throughout the Pacific Northwest used giant trees from this rainforest to build impressive winter homes. These houses provided comfortable shelter from the cold, rainy winter and protection against attacking enemies. Making Materials . . . — — Map (db m311007) HM
Although it may seem as if these totem poles have been simply left here, there’s more to it than meets the eye. Totem poles are carved with an understanding that few will stand longer than 75 years in the rainforest climate of Southeast Alaska, . . . — — Map (db m311014) HM
A Timeline of Historic Creek St. District. Ketchikan Creek was The Cradle of the little town that grew to become today’s largest Alaska City. The creek provided pure, cold drinking water, it supplied power for electric lights and industry, and . . . — — Map (db m310675) 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 m112039) HM
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
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
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
Baker John Koel arrived in Alaska in 1901, bringing a sizable savings and keen business sense. He started out with his "OK Bakery" restaurant and rooming house and in 1911 built Alaska's
first reinforced concrete building on his corner lot for . . . — — Map (db m258182) HM
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
Traditionally, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian relied on gifts from the sea. Much of their subsistence activity consisted of catching several species of fish, collecting an array of foods from the intertidal zone and hunting marine mammals. The bounty . . . — — Map (db m310931) HM
Frontier on the Frontier
You're standing on the sleek and seamless urban waterfront of Ketchikan. But in pioneer times of 1900 to 1910, this site was a rugged outpost for the industrious few - a sort of frontier on the frontier. . . . — — Map (db m308870) HM
Clan members return to their clan houses for the winter after spending the rest of the year at hunting, fishing and berry picking camps. Clan houses not only protect against weather and enemies, they also provide a framework for this complex . . . — — Map (db m311003) 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
When 20-year old J.R. Heckman arrived from Nova Scotia in 1886, Ketchikan was just a dock, salmon saltery, general store, post office and scattering of small, rough houses. Nearby Metlakatla (pop.823), Klawock (287) and Loring (200) were bigger; . . . — — Map (db m258180) HM
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
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
This landscape design and construction is by local resident and Eagle Scout Joey Karlik. Tongass Historical Museum, Tongass Historical Society, and the City of Ketchikan extend their sincere gratitude. As Ketchikan was becoming established, so too . . . — — Map (db m310697) 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
Ketchikan Spruce Mills from the air. 1954
Paulu Saari Photo Courtesy of Ketchikan Museums
Established in 1903, the Ketchikan Power Company operated a spruce mill at the mouth of Ketchikan Creek in Thomas Basin
located on a 14 acre site . . . — — Map (db m282542) HM
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
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
Businesses Flourished in Newtown with the Fleet of Fishing Boats
The old saying goes . . . A boat is a hole in the ocean where a skipper throws money
That's what made Northern Machine Works a long-lived success in Ketchikan's . . . — — Map (db m308970) HM
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
The art displayed here at Totem Bight is that of the Tlingit and Haida. Debate continues about how and when the ancestors of those people arrived in the area. From Where Did They Come? According to oral narrative, Southeast Alaska Natives have . . . — — Map (db m311083) HM
Today, the value of Totem Bight’s magnificent carvings is self-evident, but not long ago, things were different. Culture in Crisis For untold generations, totem poles were the largest and most visible symbols of the Tlingit, Haida and . . . — — Map (db m311066) HM
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
[Totem pole effigies, top to bottom]
• Yeil (Raven)
• Sun
• Chief's Daughter
• Chief wearing a tall hat. Baby's face in the hat suggests Chief's Raven-ness
The Raven Stealing the Sun kootéeyaa (totem pole), commissioned by the . . . — — Map (db m258178) HM
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
[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
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
This property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior Star House 5 Creek Street 1903 — — Map (db m310673) HM
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
Steamship Mariposa takes on freight at the Alaska Steamship Co. Dock, 1912 Steamship arrivals and departures were frequent in early 20th century Ketchikan, and each one was an important event, as this photo illustrates. Townspeople line the . . . — — Map (db m311324) HM
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
Symbols and customs glue society together. Potlatch ceremonies reinforce social structure through storytelling and oratory, totem pole raising, feasting and gift giving. Potlatches are symbols of wealth, often lasting for days. They can take years . . . — — Map (db m310962) HM
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
Ketchikan Creek is the central thread of town in both location and meaning: it is the reason we are here today. Tlingit people, the first in the area, traditionally came to the creek as a summer fish camp. Taant’a Kwáan Tlingit – who have . . . — — Map (db m310682) HM
500 yr. old cedar from Ketchikan, Alaska
carved after ancient Tsimshian culture
By David K. Fison (Nadáam 'Nłomsk)
of the Tsimshian Killer Whale Clan
Anchorage, Alaska April 28, 2001
—————————————————————
Completed in 2001
The . . . — — Map (db m258207) HM
Tailor Pat Gilmore left Ireland in the early 1900s to seek his fortune in Alaska. He wisely invested his "grubstake" in the "Men's Emporium" on Dock Street in 1905. Within a year, he
brought his sweetheart Elizabeth "Lizzie" Guinan over. They . . . — — Map (db m181928) HM
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
For the past 15,000 years – as the area’s glaciers have melted – untold numbers of salmon have made their way up Ketchikan Creek each summer, driven by deep biological forces to spawn in the grounds from which they came. Salmon you see here in . . . — — Map (db m310684) HM
The nearest vessel is either an English or Norwegian freighter at the coal dock, located about where the Tongass Trading Company dock store now stands on Berth 2. Next is the U.S. Army cable ship Burnside, and the third vessel furthest . . . — — Map (db m258231) HM
Native carvers took huge western red cedar and transformed them into magnificent totem poles. Respect for the Totem Tree Highly respected, commissioned artists usually carved totem poles. The carver generally selected red cedar because of its . . . — — Map (db m311075) HM
The Pacific Northwest Coast Natives have a strong sense of belonging to the land and water, which reflects the spirit and substance of their culture. The rainforest provides raw material for shelter, fuel, fiber, transportation, and food such as . . . — — Map (db m310927) HM
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
Contrary to early missionary belief, totem poles were never worshipped. Some served to record stories and family histories, proclaim wealth and status, or honor the dead. Others grace house fronts or serve as posts that support the clan houses. . . . — — Map (db m310975) HM
Totem poles tell stories. The owner presents the pole and tells its story, usually at a potlatch. The figures or crests in the pole help witnesses remember the story. How many figures can you identify using the clues here? Totem Pole figures . . . — — Map (db m311011) HM
“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
Along with other cultures, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian have long used rainforest plants for food and medicine. This wildflower garden contains many of them. The Native people have spiritual ties to these plants and great knowledge of their . . . — — Map (db m310922) HM
A bight is a bend in the shoreline that forms a shallow bay.
It looks as if a giant creature took a bite out of it. Natives
favored bights for village sites since they are often protected
from fierce weather and have sandy beaches good for . . . — — Map (db m307974) HM
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
WELCOME
You are standing in the traditional lands of the Taant'a Kwáan Tlingit, who have cared for this place from earliest human time. It would not survive in its richness and beauty without their stewardship. We are grateful for . . . — — Map (db m258175) HM
Pioneer Hall, the oldest building in the Downtown Historic District, is a survivor. Most historic wood frame buildings have been lost to fire, deterioration, or replacement. It started out as the US Customs House. Its prominent site overlooked . . . — — Map (db m258229) HM
By the 1800's the Tlingit and Haida Indians of Southeast Alaska had developed a very sophisticated and highly stratified society. This clan house, in a natural setting similar to historic Tlingit and Haida villages, along with the surrounding . . . — — Map (db m307819) HM
Totem Bight State Historical Park exhibits totem poles and a clan house typical of three Native groups: Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian. These three groups were unique as they incorporated their distinctive art into totem poles. The Civilian . . . — — Map (db m307814) HM
Yasunori Takase built and managed a rooming house here. The
building remained in Japanese ownership until the tragedy of
WW II and internment camps.
1998 Centennial Project/TRT Grant — — Map (db m301502) HM
Yasunori Takase purchased this house and lot from James
Brennan and opened a laundry in 1916. It operated along
with other Japanese proprietorships into the 1940's. — — Map (db m301505) HM
Brothers Rasmus and Jon Enge floated this building across
the Wrangell Narrows to its current location. The family used it for a home and warehouse.
1998 Centennial Project/TRT Grant — — Map (db m301496) HM
Built by the CCC, the town's first federal building housed offices of the Petersburg Ranger District, U.S. Customs Service and Alaska Territorial Court.
1998 Centennial Project/TRT Grant — — Map (db m301486) HM
Newcomers called Rasmus and Anna Enge's boarding
house-home. Built over tidelands, it had a skiff float
alongside for high water landings and a street level cafe.
1998 Centennial Project/TRT Grant — — Map (db m301499) HM
The Petersburg Lutheran Church was established in 1913. It is a
landmark for travelers and a legacy of early Norwegian settlers.
1998 Centennial Project/TRT Grant — — Map (db m301488) HM
The founding of Petersburg in 1896-7 by Peter Buschmann with fellow Norwegians and the building of the fish and mill processing site resulted in a lifestyle that centered around customs and traditions of Norway. Locals formally banded together in . . . — — Map (db m301493) HM
This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America. The hall is the place of importance in the native community. The original chapter of Alaska Native Brotherhood built this hall in 1914 to serve . . . — — Map (db m133827) HM
Hans Andersen started his first business in Hadley, Alaska in 1903. He built the Hotel Hadley in the mining town of Hadley on Prince of Wales Island. Several years later, copper prices plummeted and the town was soon abandoned. Hans moved to . . . — — Map (db m308410) HM
In 1849 the Church of the Resurrection was built into a portion of the fortified wall at this site. This unique church, situated on the divide between cultures, had two doors, one for Tlingit worshippers from their village and one for the priest . . . — — Map (db m308762) HM
Kaaxgal.aat
Alaskan Civil Rights Leader (Tlingit, Lukaax.ádi)
(July 4, 1911 - December 1, 1958)
"Asking you to give me equal rights implies that they are yours to give. Instead, I must demand that you stop . . . — — Map (db m308317) HM
Captain George Foster Emmons (1811-1884), commander of the USS Ossipee, sailed into the Sitka harbor with United States
and Russian Commissioners for the ceremony transferring the Alaskan territory to the United States on 18 October 1867.
Nearly . . . — — Map (db m118712) HM
Russians and Native Alaskans took the first tentative steps toward mutual understanding in the Russian Bishop's House. The bishop lived here alongside Tlingit students and Native and Kryol (mixed ancestry) men studying to become Orthodox priests. . . . — — Map (db m181607) HM
Longline fishermen have sustainably harvested halibut, rockfish and sablefish off Alaska's coast for more than 100 years. Every year, scientists and managers determine an acceptable level of harvest for each species, and limit the catch to ensure . . . — — Map (db m308447) HM
Many of Alaska's fishing boats are family run operations, with traditions passed down from one generation to the next. The livelihoods of more than one third of Alaska's towns are dependent on fisheries.
Seafood is Alaska's top export, . . . — — Map (db m308449) HM
This two-story, wood clapboard and gambrel roofed cottage-style house was constructed during the summer of 1916 by the United States Department of Commerce, Coast and Geodetic Survey. Prior to the purchase of Alaska by the United States from the . . . — — Map (db m181580) HM
Blacksmiths and artisans who once lived and toiled on this hill were highly skilled workers of diverse ethnicities. Artifacts found here tell their forgotten story.
Under Your Feet
In 1997, archaeologists discovered Russian workshops . . . — — Map (db m181266) HM
Built about 1895, the Hanlon-Qsbakken house is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was home to three generations of the Hanion-Osbakken family, who trace their roots in Sitka to early Russian American days. The family held the property . . . — — Map (db m181588) HM
Dedicated to volunteers Foster and Louise Mills, and their son, Russell and wife, Monica Mills in recognition for their many years of service tending to this Lutheran cemetery, established in 1840.
Overgrown and unattended, Foster discovered . . . — — Map (db m308264) HM
One of a number of early naval vessels that saw distinguished service in Alaska's waters, the sloop-of-war U.S.S. Jamestown on June 14, 1879 arrived off shore here in relief of the U.S.S. Alaska. She had been ordered to sail from San Francisco to . . . — — Map (db m308280) HM
This is the site of the old Russian warehouse and wharf used when Sitka was a center of world trade.
During the Russian - American period, Sitka was the largest town on the west coast of North America.
Ships exchanged their goods here . . . — — Map (db m308282) HM
Over 80,000 fur seal skins alone were stored here in 1867, along with sea otter pelts and other valuable furs.
This mural depicts the S. S. Queen and the S. S. City of Topeka as they docked here in 1887 during Alaska's gold rush.
Part . . . — — Map (db m308283) HM
