History

Juneau, Alaska was originally founded and used as fishing grounds by the Tlingit Indians. The late 1800s saw the beginning of the search for gold in the Gastineau Channel. There had been samples but no direct sources found. George Pilz, a mining engineer, offered a reward to any local who could bring him to the source of the gold bearing ore. Chief Cowee of Auk Tlingits did just that. Two trips were made and on the second trip, Richard Harris and Joseph Juneau climbed to Gold Creek and “struck gold”, a hundred mile belt of gold stretching from Windham Bay to Berners Bay.

Within a year, over 100 prospectors had arrived in the area, everyone in search of riches. They began with the collection of gold nuggets that washed down the mountains and when that ran out large-scale mining began, as well as the foundations of a town. In 1882, John Treadwell established the Alaska Mill and Mining Co. producing $70 million. The mill's success peaked in 1915, but two years later three of the four mines flooded and in 1944 the last mill closed as it was too expensive to run and not enough workers could be found during WWII.

Juneau was originally called Rockwell, then Harrisburg (after Richard Harris) and then was renamed as a tribute to Joseph Juneau. The 20^th century brought the industry of transportation and a regional trading center, after the decline of traditional whaling and the fur-trade became less significant. In 1906, Juneau became Alaska's capital. In 1931, Federal and Territorial buildings were set into place and in 1970, it was incorporated as a unified city and Borough.