Historic Places

Map of historic places within and around Wrangell-St Elias.

NPS

These historic places allow us a nostalgic glimpse into the past, where people ventured into remote areas and endured the hardships of wilderness, wildlife and weather.

 

Chisana 1913

Bleakley Collection

Chisana

Chisana (pronounced shoo-shana), also known as Shushana, Chathanda City and Johnson City, is nestled in a remote valley between the Nutzotin and Wrangell Mountains, half-way between Nabesna and McCarthy, the Chisana area provides visitors with a unique glimpse into Alaska's gold rush era. Unlike many better known and more accessible regions, this area retains extensive evidence of its early mining use, including the deteriorating remains of two towns, numerous tent camps, various water diversion and delivery systems, a full range of hand, hydraulic, and mechanical mining operations and a well-developed transportation network.

Chisana is the scene of Alaska’s last important gold rush in 1913 and played a key role in the history of interior Alaska. While few struck it rich, the resulting demand for materials and supplies helped establish regional transportation networks, encouraged supporting industries, and hastened the exploration and settlement of both the Copper River and Tanana Basins. Chisana was particularly significant from 1913 to 1915, the period encompassing its discovery, stampede, and gold boom. Chisana became known as "the largest log cabin town in the world." It remained important through 1942, when war-time exigencies virtually ended local mining. The town was designated Chisana Historic Mining District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and renamed Chisana Historic Mining Landscape in 1998. Today, Chisana enjoys a population of about 25 residents. A few persistent placer miners continue to work the area's creeks. They are the spiritual heirs of the stampeders who continue the quest, ever searching for the one rich strike!

 

Bremner 1930s

Bleakley Collection

Bremner

Located near Golconda Creek just to the north of the Bremner River, about 50 miles east of Chitina, the area was the scene of an important placer gold discovery in 1902, and played a key role in the history of the Copper River Basin. Named in 1885 by Lieutenant H. T. Allen afterJohn Bremner, who in 1884-1885 was the first non-native person to live in the area and who prospected for gold along the Bremner River. Only a few miners struck it rich, but the resulting demand for materials and supplies helped establish regional transportation networks, encouraged supporting industries, and hastened the exploration and settlement of the entire region.

While small-scale placer mining continued for over forty years, lode development was largely confined to the period between 1934 and 1941, the district's most significant era. The Golconda Mining Company site, which contains a campsite, an elaborate ditch, and extensive piles of hand-stacked cobble, provides a good example of early placer mining in Alaska. The Yellow Band mining camp is one of the region's most complete, not only containing housing and offices, but also a sophisticated hydroelectric system. Lucky Girl, Grand Prize, and Sheriff Mine were other mining operations in the area. With each containing a variety of historic buildings and mining equipment, the area was designated the Bremner Historic Mining District in 2000. Today, Bremner enjoys only a few visitors a year. Since it is so remote and there is no road access, the ways to visit is by plane or an expert-guided multi-day river trip.

 

Nabesna Camp 1930

Bleakley Collection

Nabesna

Located at the end of a 42 mile gravel road, east from the Tok Cut-Off Hwy at Slana, Nabesna Road is one of two roads into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Nabesna was founded by the Nabesna Mining Company and named after the new post office in 1909. Gold was discovered at White Mountain in 1891, and the site was first developed in the early 20th century. The Nabesna Mining Company was formed in 1929, resulting in an expansion of the camp and the construction of Nabesna Road. The mine was closed during World War II, and only briefly reopened afterward, closing permanently after 1947. The location was used as a secret supply cache by the United States Army during the Cold War. The mine produced 2.5 tons of gold during its active period, as well as many tons of silver, copper, and lead.

The old mining camp and the mine were listed as the Nabesna Gold Mine Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Today it is on private property and some small-scale mining still occurs, but the nearby Rambler Mine site is on public land and accessible by foot from the end of Nabesna Road. Please respect private property at the end of the road and do not park on the airstrip. There is designated public parking in the gravel turn-around past the lodge. Continue by foot on the unmaintained road to the Rambler Mine Trailhead on the right, then take the strenuous hike uphill to the abandoned Rambler Mine site. There are a few dilapidated structures and some mining equipment, and the scenic view offers a good perspective of the Nabesna River Valley. Take caution not to enter old structures or mine adits, shafts or entrances since they are unstable and dangerous.

 

Nugget Creek Camp 1910

Bleakley Collection

Nugget Creek

The Kuskulana drainage is situated along the western slope of the Wrangell Mountains, and is a tributary of the Chitina River, which is the major western flowing tributary of the Copper River. Access starts at mile 14.5 of the McCarthy Road from the Kotsina Road near Strelna and then hiking up the 18 mile historic Nugget Creek Trail. In 1902, James McCarthy and friend Warren Leach in 1907 staked a number of gold claims on both sides of the Kuskulana River near Nugget Creek and Trail Creek. Within several years, a copper mining camp and operations had been developed by the Alaska Copper Corporation. The site developed as the demand for copper grew at the onset of WWI. The mining operation was short lived, ending in 1919, yet traces of the Nugget Creek Mine and its associated road remain to commemorate this historic activity in the larger Kotsina-Kuskulana Historic Mining District.

The McCarthy Road was the original route of the Copper River and Northwest Railroad, which connected the famous copper mines at Kennecott with the port at Cordova. Strelna was an important railroad stop in its day as it was the main point from which both the Kotsina and Kuskulana drainages were accessed for mining. Today, the mining camp above Nugget Creek features a number of log buildings and structures, although partially in ruins, they exhibit a high level of craftsmanship. The mine also has a wide variety of artifact mining equipment which illustrate the innovative technologies and methods of the early twentieth century gold and copper mining.

 

Kennecott mill town 1915

Bleakley Collection

Kennecott

Located five miles beyond the Kennicott River footbridge at the end of McCarthy Road, it includes the land and mining claims that formed the foundation for the Kennecott Copper Corporation. The operation had three components: the mines where copper ore was extracted from the mountains, the mill town where the ore was processed and the extensive railway to transport the ore to Cordova. From 1911 to 1938, nearly $200 million worth of copper was processed. At the peak of operation, approximately 300 people worked in the mill town and 200-300 in the mines. Kennecott was a self-contained company town that included a hospital, general store, school, skating rink, tennis court, recreation hall, and dairy. By the late 1920s, the supply of high-grade ore was diminishing, and Kennecott Copper Corporation was diversifying into other mines elsewhere. Declining profits and increasing costs of railroad repairs led to the eventual closure of the Kennecott operation by 1938.

Many of the buildings in Kennecott have been abandoned for decades. The National Park Service, along with the local community and Friends of Kennicott, are engaged in an ongoing effort to rehabilitate and stabilize many of the buildings. The goal is to protect the historic integrity of the mill town so that future generations can explore and enjoy Kennecott and the area’s rich history. A few buildings have been rehabilitated for modern use, including the Recreation Hall which is used for educational programs and community events. The Blackburn School now serves as the Kennecott Visitor Center. Designated a National Historic Place in 1976 and National Historic Landmark in 1998, Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark is a park within a park. The Kennecott mill town and mines are an extraordinary relic from America's past. The impressive structures and artifacts that remain represent an ambitious time of exploration, discovery, and technological innovation.

 

Chitina 1906

Bleakley Collection

Chitina

Chitina town is located at mile 34 of the Edgerton Highway, on the west bank of the Copper River at the confluence with the Chitina River, 53 miles southeast of Copper Center. Rich copper deposits were discovered at the turn of the century along the northern flanks of the Chitina River Valley, bringing a rush of prospectors and homesteaders to the area. The Copper River & Northwestern Railway enabled Chitina, a train depot, to develop into a thriving community by 1914. It had a general store, clothing store, meat market, stables, a tinsmith, five hotels, rooming houses, a pool hall, bars, restaurants, dance halls and a movie theater. At that time, almost all of Chitina was owned by a surveying engineer for the Kennecott Mines, who supplied electric power to the town with a unique hydroelectric system.

Today, Chitina boasts 101 year-round residents. In the summer it becomes a tourist boom town as a gateway into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve at the beginning of McCarthy Road, one of two roads into the park. It is also a very popular place for fishermen to dip-net and work the fishwheels to catch their annual supply of salmon from the Copper River and local creeks. The national park Chitina Ranger Station is in the 1910 Orr log cabin, one of many built in the town around that time. It was constructed for the local manager of the Edward S. Orr Stage Company, also known as the Fairbanks-Valdez Stage Company, one of several stage lines which operated along the Valdez-to-Fairbanks Trail to transport people and supplies in the early years of the twentieth century.

 

McCarthy 1914

Bleakley Collection

McCarthy

McCarthy, originally called Shushana Junction is located on the Kennicott River at the mouth of McCarthy Creek, in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. It is 61 miles east on the gravel McCarthy Road from the town of Chitina. Access to town is by foot across the Kennicott River footbridge and a small ½ mile walk. The town was established in the early 20th century around 1906 as the nearby copper mining town of Kennecott was developing five miles away. Named after James McCarthy, a local prospector, by 1911 the town had restaurants, pool halls, hotels, saloons, two newspapers, a dress shop, a photography shop, auto repair shop, shoe shop, a red light district and a hardware store. Before Anchorage was established in 1914, McCarthy was considered the largest town in Alaska with over 1,000 residents. McCarthy town grew rapidly as the Copper River and Northwestern Railway line transported copper ore to Cordova. Between 1938 when Kennecott closed to the late 1960’s, McCarthy town was almost abandoned, inhabited by just a few families. With increased tourism and the Alaska Pipeline in the 1970’s, the town was revived.

Today, McCarthy has about 107 residents, but it becomes very popular in summer as tourists explore the area, enjoy the recreational opportunities and learn about the history. The McCarthy-Kennicott Museum is housed in the Copper River and Northwestern Railway depot built in 1924. It features a display of historic photos, documents, and artifacts, a miniature model of McCarthy town and a diorama of the Bonanza Mine in Kennecott. McCarthy is considered one of the last intact historic towns located within a national park.

 

Cordova 1909

Bleakley Collection

Cordova

Cordova a small remote village located along the Alaska coast near the mouth of the Copper River in Prince William Sound. It was founded as a result of the discovery of high-grade copper ore at the Kennecott mines. A group of surveyors from Valdez laid out a town site and an engineer railroad builder purchased half the land for the terminus of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway in 1906. The new townsite was named Cordova in reference to the name Puerto Cordova that Spanish explorer Salvador Fidalgogave to Orca Inlet in 1790. As Kennecott and the railroad grew, so did the town. Eventually schools, businesses, a hospital, and utilities were established. After the railroad was completed in 1911, Cordova became the transportation hub for the ore coming out of Kennecott and supplies going there and to all of the train depots along the train route. In the years from 1911 to 1938, more than 200 million tons of copper ore was transported through Cordova to the smelter in Tacoma, Washington.

Cordova’s fishermen developed a strong market for salmon, halibut and razor clams that grow a foot long. As air transportation eventually became the vital link between Cordova and the rest of the nation, fishing became the mainstay industry. As Cordova grew, her economy fluctuated as disasters struck throughout the century. The 1964 earthquake damaged roads and bridges and raised the ocean floor, thereby impacting the razor clam industry. Cannery fires destroyed valuable equipment, fishing boats and gear stored in warehouses. Severe storms and avalanches have left their impacts as well. The oil spill in 1989 destroyed the herring fisheries and disrupted the salmon industry. However, today, Cordova is a bustling little fishing town with about 2,600 residents and is accessible by plane or boat.

 

Copper Center 1898

Bleakley Collection

Copper Center

Copper Center is located at the confluence of the Klutina and Copper rivers, 100 miles north of Valdez. Founded in 1898 during the gold rush, the promise of gold drew prospectors north from the Lower 48 States to Alaska that year. About 4,000 prospectors traveled on the Valdez Trail to the Copper River Valley, where they thought they would find gold, much closer than Fairbanks, Dawson and the Forty Mile in the Yukon. In the late winter and early spring of 1898, the prospectors crossed the Valdez and KlutinaGlaciers. Then, they built boats and tried to navigate the Klutina River. Those that made the trip successfully reached the confluence of the Klutina and Copper rivers in the early summer of 1898. The mixed lot of prospectors established a supply depot of rough log cabins and tents, a black smith shop, smoke houses, a hotel, store, post office and even the first telegraph office. Prospectors used Copper Center as a base from which to explore the surrounding country in search of gold and copper.

Life and work were difficult in Interior Alaska, and many prospectors gave up and went home. Only about 300 prospectors wintered over in Copper Center and many developed scurvy because they only subsisted on bacon and beans. Some of the prospectors had the foresight to supplement their diet with wild berries, rose hips and spruce needle tea. Scurvy reached epidemic proportions that winter, necessitating heroic rescues and emergency deliveries of food from Valdez. Those who survived continued to work the rivers for gold and they provided food and shelter in their cabins to explorers, surveyors, and other prospectors. Eventually, road houses with lodging and supplies were established along the trail, later to become the Richardson Hwy. Near Copper Center at the Visitor Center, there is a segment of the historic Valdez Trail, adjoining the Boreal Forest-Bluff Trail. Today, Copper Center is a small town of about 338 residents, of which some continue the search for gold.