Well, the city of Juneau, Alaska, is the capital of Alaska. What is the big deal with Juneau? Let’s find out

Juneau

Juneau is located between the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Before 1906, Sitka was the capital (we talked about Sitka here). https://travelingwithjustin.com/sitka-alaska/ The government of the District of Alaska was moved from Sitka to Juneau, as recommended by the U.S. Congress.

The City of Douglas and the surrounding area merged with Juneau in 1970, making this area larger than Rhode Island or Delaware.

Anchorage and Fairbanks are more populous than Juneau. However, during the summer, cruise lines bring an influx of about 21,000 people visiting from May to September.

Joe Juneau, from Quebec, was a gold prospector, and that is how the city got its name.

Juneau has no roads connecting the capital with the rest of the state or the contiguous United States.

Located

History

Gastineau Channel was a fishing place for the Auke and Taku tribes living there.

There is a spot called Indian Point, which is a sacred territory that has resisted the desire for European-American development.

Russia owned the Alaska Area, but it never ventured to Juneau. However, it traded with the natives on some islands.

A European saw Juneau in July-August 1794. They saw the Castineau channel and a small island in its middle. They saw it from the South and West and decided that the channel was just not navigable due to all the ice.

The construction of the state capital was authorized in 1911, but it was delayed due to World War I. Some of the citizens of Juneau donated some of the funds for this to happen. They had a hard time purchasing the land for it. Finally, in 1929, construction started, and it took two years to complete.

It finally became a state in 1959, and the state budget received an influx of cash once the Alaska Pipeline was completed.

Facts

Here are some things about the city of Juneau

• Named
  • 1881 Juneau City
  • 1882 Juneau
• Incorporated
  • 1900
• Home-rule city
  • October 1960
• Borough
  • September 30, 1963
    • Greater Juneau Borough
  • July 1, 1970
    • City and Borough of Juneau
• Founded by
  • Richard and Harris, and Joe Juneau
• Named for
  • Joe Juneau
• Area
  • State Capital City
    • 3,254.70 sq miles
  • Land
    • 2,704.03 sq miles
  • Water
    • 550.67 sq miles
  • Urban
    • 14.0 sq miles
• Elevation
  • 33 ft
• Population
  • Estimate 20233
    • 31,685
• Time zones
  • UTC-9 (AKST)
  • Summer
    • UTC-8 (AKDT)
• Website
  • Juneau.org

Other Things

People in Fairbanks and Anchorage wanted to move the capital up North by them. However, that never happened.

Juneau is the only U.S. capital that borders another country. Yes, the Canadian province of British Columbia sits just east of the capital.

There is so much more to Juneau, so I found some of the information here

Juneau, Alaska. (2024, September 2). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneau,_Alaska

Thoughts