Richard Harris and Joe Juneau were prospecting for gold in the
territory of Alaska in 1880 and found nuggets "as big as beans." (I can't help wondering: mung beans or limas?) Word got out and their camp quickly became a town
called – wait for it – Harrisburg. A short time later they renamed the town for
a naval lieutenant commander stationed there, Charles Rockwell. In 1881, the
name was changed to Juneau, the name it carries today. Juneau is the capital of
Alaska, but it’s inaccessible by road. To get there from anyplace else, you need a boat, helicopter or plane. Juneau is sandwiched between 3,800-foot
peaks and the ocean, creating a nasty weather phenomenon known as “Taku Winds”
during the colder months. Juneau’s nearest neighbor is the Mendenhall Glacier, a
13-mile long river of ice that empties into Mendenhall Lake. Alaska’s oldest
operating hotel, The Alaskan, was built in Juneau in 1913; the year Alaska
became a US territory.
No comments:
Post a Comment