On Aug. 17, 1896 gold is discovered by Skookum Jim, George W. Carmack and Dawson Charlie on Rabbit Creek, later called Bonanza, a tributary of the Klondike River near Dawson City, Yukon. Soon thereafter steamships from Seattle, San Francisco and other ports brought thousands of gold prospectors to Skagway, Alaska where they began an arduous journey to the gold fields some 600 miles away. It took many of them a year to complete the trip only to find most of the claims already taken. By 1898 Skagway’s population boomed to nearly 10,000. Today the town promotes this history to tens of thousands of tourists annually, nearly 90% of whom arrive by cruise ship.
The White Pass & Yukon Railway picks up cruise ship passengers right at the dock for a scenic tour.
One of the smaller ships we saw docked here.
The Golden North Hotel, now home to several retail stores, started operating during the Gold Rush.
“House of Negotiable Affection” on right. During the gold rush, rows of cribs (two-room huts where the “soiled doves” plied their trade) occupied the alleys.
The Moore Cabin is the oldest structure in Skagway, built by Captain William Moore and his son in 1887-88
If anybody can – Al Can!
Amazing snow plow described below.
Small boat harbor.
Boarding ferry for short one-hour trip to Haines.
Travels with haRVy 
wow, you get a sense of REALLY being in Alaska here. Love the Al Can 😉 Skagway is a lot tidier than it was in the day – funny to see the saloon and houses so spiffy.
By: jsahady on July 8, 2015
at 9:07 am