Ketchikan, Alaska, is the site of an ancient Tlingit fish camp and was a supply town during the gold rush. Ketchikan is about 3 mi/5 km long but only a couple of blocks deep. Located on the southwest shore of Revillagigedo Island, it's the first port of call into Alaska, hence its nickname, The First City. It is considered an Alaska Native cultural center for the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian tribes, as well as a sportfishing mecca. The town generally gets more than 150 in/388 cm of rain annually, but don't let the liquid sunshine (as residents prefer to call it) keep you inside—Ketchikan is worth exploring in any kind of weather.
Sights—Deer Mountain Salmon Hatchery and Eagle Center; Saxman Native Village; Totem Bight State Park for restored totems; a tour of George Inlet Cannery.
Museums—Exhibits on Ketchikan's history and collectibles and art at Tongass Historical Museum; Totem Heritage Center for its collection of 19th-century totem poles; natural exhibits at Southeast Alaska Discovery Center.
Memorable Meals—The fresh halibut-and-chips basket at The Halibut Hole; Annabelle's Famous Keg and Chowder House for the seafood chowder in a sourdough loaf; any salmon or halibut entree at Heen Kahidi; the seafood alfredo at Salmon Falls Resort.
Late Night—Live music and drinks at Steamers at the Dock; First City Saloon for billiards and 20 beers on tap; the First City Grill for the original halibut taco.
Walks—A stroll through the Saxman Native Village; a hike on the Deer Mountain Trail; the boat harbor and Tongass Narrows; the Historic Ketchikan walking tour in downtown and the West End.
Especially for Kids—The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show; kayaking up Ketchikan Creek or fishing off Stedman Street Bridge; a glass-bottomed boat tour.
Ketchikan is only accessible by air or water. It is located on Revillagigedo Island, in the heart of the 17-million-acre/6.9-million-hectare Tongass National Forest. The city sits at the base of Deer Mountain and is encircled by the Tongass Narrows waterway. Behm Canal encircles most of the island.
Tongass Avenue is the main north-south highway, but its name changes as it progresses through town—it is Stedman Street at the base of Ketchikan Creek, Mill Street as it heads toward the docks, Front Street along the downtown docks, then Water Street north of Front Street.
A number of streets are really stairs or short passages. A few blocks from the dock is the once-rowdy Creek Street, now a tame boardwalk. It is really a walkway on pilings along Ketchikan Creek, featuring quaint shops that were once bordellos.
For generations, the proud and resourceful Tlingit and Haida tribes spent the summer months near where Ketchikan now stands. They caught salmon in the rivers and creeks, and hunted bear and deer. There is almost no evidence of the Tlingit and Haida being whalers. Spanish and Russian explorers arrived in the 17th and 18th centuries; the first Russians arrived in 1741 searching for new travel routes, fur and opportunities for settlements and political expansion. Their arrival gave rise to clashes.
The U.S. purchased the Alaska territory from Russia in 1867, after Canada passed on the opportunity. Entrepreneurs Mike Martin and George Clark opened a salmon saltery in Ketchikan in 1886 along with a trading post and the city's first post office.
The gold rush of 1898 brought thousands of newcomers to the territory. Ketchikan became a major port of entry, supplying goods and passage to the Yukon. After the gold rush, commercial canning companies sprang up along the coast as the demand for salmon grew. Logging also became a major industry during World War II. Today, Ketchikan relies on tourism as travelers flock to the area for its untamed beauty.
The town's main highway, Tongass Avenue, is 32 mi/50 km long, but it has only four traffic lights.
At one time, Ketchikan had 13 canneries, earning it the nickname "Salmon Capital of the World."
Visitors can still follow the Married Man's Trail from the old red-light district back to town.
There are no igloos in southeast Alaska. They exist in the northern part of the state.
Ketchikan is at 55 degrees latitude, the same as Malmo, Sweden; the southern portion of Canada's Hudson Bay; and Moscow.
Ketchikan, Alaska's rain capital, boasts an average annual rainfall of 155 in/394 cm. In 2005, the town was one of the wettest spots on earth after accumulating 200 in/508 cm of rain. A "drought" occurred in 1982 when only 81 in/206 cm of rain was recorded.
Ketchikan has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles at Saxman Village, Totem Bight and the Totem Heritage Center.
Ketchikan comes from the Tlingit word Kitsch-kan, which means either "Kitsch's place" or "Kitsch's home." There is no record of any native area chief being named Kitsch.
Mike Martin and George Clark originally purchased the town site next to the creek from a native named Paper Nose Charlie, according to the original deeds. But Paper Nose Charlie was not even a member of the local Tlingit tribe, so it's not clear how he had the authority to sell the town site in the first place.
