Juneau Jigsaw Puzzles

Gold on the Gastineau Channel

In 1880 mining engineer George Pilz sent two prospectors, Joe Juneau and Richard Harris, to the Gastineau Channel, where they found gold. On October 18, 1880, they marked out a 160 acre town site, and a mining camp quickly grew. It was the first settlement founded by European Americans in the territory after the United States bought Alaska. The camp was first called Rockwell, then Harrisburg, and on December 14, 1881, a meeting of 72 miners chose the name Juneau. Gold mining continued for decades, with the Alaska-Juneau mine among the big operations before World War II.

A capital with no road out

Juneau became the seat of government in 1906, when the territorial legislature moved from Sitka. The Federal and Territorial Building, dedicated in 1931, became the Alaska State Capitol after statehood in 1959. No roads connect the city to the rest of Alaska or North America, so people and goods arrive by plane, ferry or barge. Behind town, the Juneau Icefield feeds about 30 glaciers, and Mendenhall Glacier lies about 12 miles from downtown. Humpback whales spend the warmer months feeding in the waters of Southeast Alaska.

Five things you might not know about Juneau

1. Juneau covers about 3,255 square miles, which makes it larger than both Rhode Island and Delaware.
2. St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, the small octagonal church with an onion dome in downtown Juneau, was completed in 1894.
3. The Alaska State Capitol is one of only eleven state capitols without a dome.
4. Mendenhall Glacier is about 13.6 miles long, and Mendenhall Lake began forming in front of it in 1929.
5. Humpback whales can reach about 60 feet and 40 tons, and some migrate from Alaska to Hawaii.

Sources: Wikipedia: Juneau, Alaska · Wikipedia: Mendenhall Glacier · Wikipedia: Alaska State Capitol · NOAA Fisheries: Humpback Whale · Orthodox Church in America: St. Nicholas Church, Juneau