Juneau City Guide

Juneau is a fascinating city, a capital isolated from the rest of its state. Nestled between the base of Mount Juneau and the Gastineu Channel, and set in the heart of the Tongass National Forest, Juneau is an island of civilization amidst a sea of wilderness.

The city of Juneau began as a mining camp, established in 1880 by Richard Harris and Joe Juneau. Following the advice of the Tlingit natives in the area, the two prospectors had made their way to Snow Slide Gulch and discovered a wealth of gold nuggets that were, in Harris' words, "as large as peas and beans." Over the next year, the camp grew into a small town as more and more people arrived to seek their fortunes. The town went through a variety of names - first Harrisburg, and then Rockwell - before the miners got together in 1881 and settled on Juneau. Sitka, the original capital of Alaska, went through a decline around the turn of the century as the whaling and fur industry diminished, and the seat of Alaska's government was moved to Juneau in 1906.