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}
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