The founding took a guide. In 1880, Chief Kowee of the A'akw Kwáan led prospectors Joe Juneau and Richard Harris up Gold Creek to the color they had failed to find on their own, and the camp that sprang up that October is often called the first new town founded in Alaska after the purchase. It nearly carried a different name — Harrisburg, then Rockwell — before the miners voted in 1881 to call it Juneau. Kowee's reward was smaller than his part deserved, and the town has spent a century restoring his name to the story.
Our Juneau logo carries Alaska's distressed bear above "Est. 1959," the year of statehood — the shared retro emblem of our Alaska places, drawn in worn black-and-white like an old cannery crate stamp. The bear is the through-line that links Juneau to every other Alaska town we make; what makes this one Juneau is everything around it — the roadless capital, Kowee's creek, the drowned mine, and the ice.
Why People Visit Juneau Alaska
- Walk to the ice at Mendenhall Glacier — visitor center, Nugget Falls trail, and berg-dotted Mendenhall Lake, with guided treks and the ever-shifting ice caves for the ambitious.
- Ride the Mount Roberts Tramway from the cruise docks to the alpine, then hike higher.
- Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord's tidewater glaciers, or go whale watching on Stephens Passage and Auke Bay — summer humpbacks are close to a guarantee.
- Tour the Alaska State Capitol, pass the 1912 Governor's Mansion, and visit the Alaska State Museum and the 1894 St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church.
- Hike Perseverance Trail up Gold Creek past the mining ruins, or cross to Douglas Island for the Treadwell remains and Eaglecrest.
- See the salmon run at Macaulay Salmon Hatchery, find quiet at the Shrine of St. Thérèse, and end at the Red Dog Saloon.
- Fly the Juneau Icefield — flightseeing over 1,500 square miles of ice.
