Showing 1-11 of 11 results
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Arctic Brotherhood Hall
The most outlandish building of the seven-block historical corridor along Broadway St and possibly the most photographed building in Alaska is this defunct Arctic Brotherhood Hall, now home of the Skagway Convention & Visitors Bureau. The original driftwood, 8833 pieces of it, that covers the façade were attached in 1899 and extensively renovated, piece-by-piece, in 2005.
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Dyea
In 1898 Skagway's rival city, Dyea, at the foot of the Chilkoot Trail, was the trailhead for the shortest route to Lake Bennett, where stampeders began their float to Dawson City. After the White Pass & Yukon Route was completed in 1900, Dyea quickly died. Today the town is little more than a few old crumbling cabins, the pilings of Dyea Wharf and Slide Cemetery, where 47 men and women were buried after perishing in an avalanche on the Chilkoot Trail in April 1898.
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Gold Rush Cemetery
Visitors who become infatuated with Smith and Reid can walk out to Gold Rush Cemetery, a 2½-mile stroll northeast on State St. Follow State until it curves into 23rd Ave and look for the sign to Soapy's grave across the railroad tracks. A wooden bridge along the tracks leads to the main part of the cemetery, the site of many stampeders' graves and the plots of Reid and Smith. From Reid's gravestone, it's a short hike uphill to lovely Reid Falls, which cascades 300ft down the mountainside.
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Jewell Gardens
If the crowds are overwhelming you, cross the Skagway River to Jewell Gardens. Located where Henry Clark established the first truck farm in Alaska, the garden is a quiet spot of flowerbeds, ponds, giant vegetables and a delightful miniature train. Enjoy a cup of tea in the tearoom, soak in the color, regain your sanity. From downtown the SMART bus will drop you off at the entrance.
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Liarsville Gold Rush Trail Camp
Offers a miner's show, a turn at gold panning and Skagway's salmon bake.
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Mascot Saloon Museum
This is the only saloon in Alaska that doesn't serve beer, wine or a drop of whiskey - but it did during the gold rush, and plenty of it. Built in 1898, the Mascot was one of 70 saloons during Skagway's heyday as 'the roughest place in the world.' The park service has since turned it into a museum that looks into the vices - gambling, drinking, prostitution - that followed the stampeders to the goldfields, encouraging visitors to belly up to the bar for a shot of history.
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Moore's Cabin
A block SE of the city museum is Moore's Cabin, Skagway's oldest building. Captain William Moore and his son, Bernard, built the cabin in 1887 when they staked out their homestead as the founders of the town. Moore had to move his home to its present location when gold-rush stampeders overran his homestead. The NPS has since renovated the building and in doing so, discovered that the famous Dead Horse Trail that was used by so many stampeders actually began in the large lawn next to the cabin.
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Reid Falls
From Reid's gravestone in the Gold Rush Cemetery, it's a short hike uphill to lovely Reid Falls, which cascades 300ft down the mountainside.
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Skagway Museum
Skagway celebrated its centennial in 2000 by expanding the venerable century-old McCabe Building and moving the city offices and jail into the new addition. Now the Skagway Museum occupies the entire 1st floor of the former college and has transformed itself into one of the best small-town museums in Southeast. Galleries are devoted to various aspects of local history, including Alaska Native baskets, beadwork and carvings and of course the Klondike Gold Rush.
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Skagway Overlook
It's a very scenic drive to Dyea, especially at Skagway Overlook, a turnoff with a viewing platform 2½ miles from Skagway. The overlook offers an excellent view of Skagway, its waterfront and the peaks above the town. Just before crossing the bridge over the Taiya River, you pass the Dyea Camping Area where an NPS ranger is stationed in the summer to assist hikers on the Chilkoot Trail.
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Wells Fargo Bank
The Wells Fargo Bank dates back to 1916 when a group of East Coast businessmen founded National Bank of Alaska and built the bank a year later. In 1981 the bank underwent an extensive historic renovation and today it is an interesting place to visit even if you're not short on cash yet. Two of the five brass teller gates are originals, there are spittoons in case you're chewing tobacco and on display everywhere are banking artifacts from a classic 'Cannonball' safe to the old safe deposit boxes.
Showing 1-11 of 11 results
