Anchorage Daily News

KETCHIKAN

POPULATION: 7,622 (2006)

LOCATION: On the southwestern coast of Revillagigedo Island, near the southern boundary of Alaska, 235 miles south of Juneau.

DESCRIPTION: An industrial center and major port of entry in Southeast Alaska, with a diverse community and economy supported by a large fishing fleet, fish processing and cold-storage facilities, timber and wood-products manufacturing, and tourism. A state-operated hatchery annually produces over 450,000 king and coho salmon, steelhead and rainbow trout. The largest collection of totem poles in the world is found at Totem Bight State Historical Park, Saxman Native Village and the Totem Heritage Center Museum. There are nine schools, attended by about 2,330 students.

HISTORY: The Tongass and Cape Fox Tlingits' fish camp at Ketchikan Creek was called Kitschk-hin, meaning creek of the "thundering wings of an eagle." The abundant fish and timber resources attracted non-Natives, and in 1885, Mike Martin bought 160 acres from Chief Kyan that later became the township. The first cannery opened in 1886; four more by 1912. The Ketchikan post office was established in 1892, the city incorporated in 1900. Nearby gold and copper discoveries briefly made it a mining-supply center. By 1936, seven canneries were producing 1.5 million cases of salmon a year. A $55 million pulp mill constructed at nearby Ward Cove in 1954 spurred growth until 1997, when the mill's 50-year contract with the U.S. Forest Service was canceled and the mill closed.

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