Early History:
Although the Gastineau Channel was a favorite fishing ground for local Tlingit Indians, the town was founded on gold nuggets. In 1880, Sitka mining engineer George Pilz offered a reward to any local chief who could lead him to gold-bearing ore. Chief Kowee of the Auk Tlingit tribe arrived with just that ore and Pilz sent two prospectors, Joe Juneau and Dick Harris, to investigate.
At the head of Gold Creek they found, in the words of Harris, 'little lumps as large as peas and beans.' On October 18, 1880, the two men staked out a 160-acre town site, and almost overnight a mining camp appeared. It was the state's first major gold strike, and within a year the camp became a small town, the first to be founded after Alaska's purchase from the Russians.
Initially, the town was called Harrisburg and then Rockwell, then in 1881 the miners met and officially named it after Juneau. The post office was established shortly later, and the name has stuck. After the declining whaling and fur trade reduced the importance of Sitka, the capital of Alaska was moved to Juneau in 1906.
The Treadwell and Ready Bullion mines across the channel on Douglas Island became world-scale mines, operating from 1882 to 1917. In 1916, the Alaska-Juneau gold mine was built on the mainland, and became the largest operation of its kind in the world. In 1917, a cave-in and flood closed the Treadwell mine on Douglas. It produced $66 million in gold in its 35 years of operation. Fishing, canneries, transportation and trading services, and a sawmill contributed to Juneau's growth through the early 1900s. The A-J Mine closed in 1944, after producing over $80 million in gold.
Alaska became the 49th state in 1959 and Juneau has continued to grow as a vibrant and exciting capital city.
