In 1896, gold was found in the Klondike region of Canada’s Yukon Territory, and thousands of prospectors hit the small settlement of Skagway, Alaska. By June 1898, with a population between 8,000 and 10,000, Skagway was the largest city in Alaska.
Today, Skagway has only around 1,000 people, but we found it charming. It reminded me of towns in the Old West, but with a lot more color….
I was hoping to see a lot of totem poles, but this is one of the only ones I found.
The Visitor Center. According to Wiki, Skagway’s population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with more than 900,000 (!) visitors.
A popular place to eat and drink is the Red Onion Saloon. Part of our excursion was a tour of the upstairs which is the Brothel Museum.
One of the tiny rooms used by prostitutes during the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s. When it hit me what we were looking at, I wanted out of there. So sad and just…creepy.
The semimonthly newspaper, The Skagway News, is published here.
This was a surprise, but I do like the color scheme going on here.
Skagway was previously a city, but is now a municipality and borough.
As you can see, there are a lot of shops for tourists.
I did like the architecture.
Later, we learned that Skagway was part of the setting for Jack London’s The Call of the Wild.
Even though the mountains were partially obscured by clouds, they looked so beautiful.
Great weekend, everyone!
{carole}
Pearls & Prose 
Those hues on the storefronts remind me of a ‘painted lady’ in San Francisco – just more vivid and intense. I’d appreciate those blasts of color during their extended enter grey season.
Yes, white buildings would be so dull with all that snow!
Love those painted buildings they are so colourful.
Thanks, me too!
The colours AND the mountains! Magnifique.
Merci mille fois. 😊
Wow, what a colorful place!
It really is!
What a fascinating post. The colors are mazing and it really has an old West feel.
That brothel museum is quite something. Interesting.
Good to see you back, Caroline! Hope all is well with you.
I’m fine. I opened a s all Vintage and Antiques shop, including second hand books, clothes and more. Kept me busy. 🙂
That is awesome!
I’ll have to take some pictures some time. It’s so cute.
Would love to see, Caroline.
Wow so much color! Quaint and lovely
It was a nice surprise!
great story and photos, Alaska looks amazing in general.
Troy
Thank you, it really is something.
Skagway is an interesting town. I went there for a cross country meet in high school. Haven’t been there since. That was 14 years ago. Is there still that pizza place that puts huge amounts of cheese on their pizza?
Cool! I’m sorry, I don’t remember a pizza place, but we weren’t looking for a place to eat that day.