Juneau

   In 1880, Joe Juneau and Richard Harris were prospecting in Alaska.  They were led by three native guides to the silver Bow Basin, where they discovered gold.  Out of their discovery came a camp that became the capital city of Alaska: Juneau.

     Juneau was first named Harrisburg - some say because Harris was the only partner able to write and recorded it that way.  The name didn't stick.  After the news of the gold strike spread to Sitka, nearly 300 prospectors swarmed the camp and renamed it Rockwell.  Shortly after, it became Juneau and the name stuck.

     Gold fever led to gold production.  By 1882, the world famous Treadwell Mine was operational and expanding.  Gold was what Juneau was all about, and within a decade of the Juneau/Harris discovery, wagon roads penetrated the valleys behind the camp-turned-town.  Politics took center stage in Juneau from the beginning as well.  The future state's first political convention was held here in the summer of 1881.  In 1906, the district government of Alaska transferred to Juneau from Sitka.

     Gold remained Juneau's and Alaska's mainstay until the government shutdown the mine in 1944 because of manpower and conservation issues.  By the time the mine was shut down, the city had experienced a continous rise in its territorial government activity and employment.  By 1959, then Alaska became state number 49, government had all but filled the economic void left by the empty mine.

     While many people made a fortune during the gold rush, Juneau and Harris never got rich from their discoveries.  Juneau died broke in the Canadian Yukon and a collection had to be taken up to send his body home for burial in the city he co-founded.

     Today approximately 30,000 people live in Juneau.  The majority work in government, with the next highest segment working in tourism.  Juneau is 3,108 square miles in area, and is on Alaska Daylight Time 4 hours earlier than Eastern Daylight Time.

     Summers are mostly cool and wet, with temperatures from 60 to 70 degrees F.  Juneau has an average rainfall of 74 inches.  There are approximately 16 to 18 hours of daylight during the summer.

     The Juneau airport is a few minutes north of the central part of Juneau.