Ketchikan - population 7,845
"In 1883, a man named Snow built a salmon saltery where Ketchikan now stands. Two years later, businessmen from Portland, Oregon hired Mike Martin to investigate the possibility of building a salmon cannery on the banks of Ketchikan Creek. Martin and the cannery's manager, George Clark, formed a partnership and opened a saltery and a general store. Two years later, with the fishing trade flourishing, Ketchikan was definitely in business and by 1900, with a population of approximately 800, the town was officially incorporated.
With mining activities beginning in the area, Ketchikan became an important trading community, with an estimated two-thirds of miner's wages reportedly ending up in the bars and bordellos of Creek Street.
Despite a mining decline, the fishing industry and timber operations began to grow with establishment of the Ketchikan Spruce Mills early in the century.
In 1954, Ketchikan Pulp Mill was completed at nearby Ward Cove, assuring jobs not only in town, but in the surrounding woods as well. Today, that industry is in trouble world wide but the ever-resilient Alaskans are focusing on another mainstay; tourism.
Ketchikan is a bustling community backed by forested hills and surrounded by a waterway busy with float planes, fishing boats, ferries and cruise ships. The little town is built right over the water in many places.
Ketchikan is home to the world's largest collection of totem poles. South of Ketchikan, Saxman Native Village shares a glimpse into the traditions of the Tlingit culture." (Bell's Travel Guides, Tim Bell)
With mining activities beginning in the area, Ketchikan became an important trading community, with an estimated two-thirds of miner's wages reportedly ending up in the bars and bordellos of Creek Street.
Despite a mining decline, the fishing industry and timber operations began to grow with establishment of the Ketchikan Spruce Mills early in the century.
In 1954, Ketchikan Pulp Mill was completed at nearby Ward Cove, assuring jobs not only in town, but in the surrounding woods as well. Today, that industry is in trouble world wide but the ever-resilient Alaskans are focusing on another mainstay; tourism.
Ketchikan is a bustling community backed by forested hills and surrounded by a waterway busy with float planes, fishing boats, ferries and cruise ships. The little town is built right over the water in many places.
Ketchikan is home to the world's largest collection of totem poles. South of Ketchikan, Saxman Native Village shares a glimpse into the traditions of the Tlingit culture." (Bell's Travel Guides, Tim Bell)