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JUNEAU, ALASKA - USA
Juneau City and Borough is a borough located on the Gastineau Channel in the
Alexander Archipelago in the U.S. State of Alaska. As of 2000 the population
is 30,711. The borough seat is the city of Juneau. Juneau is the only
incorporated place, because the city and borough boundaries coincide. Juneau
is the only state capital in the US which has no roads leading to it. The
only way to get there is with a boat or plane.
Juneau is the capital city of Alaska and is located in the Alaskan Panhandle.
The State Legislature meets in the Territorial Building.
There are several glaciers near hiking trails
(including the Mendenhall Glacier), one bridge to Douglas Island, an airport,
and dead-end roads. A car brought to Juneau must be put on a barge or ferry
first.
The Auke and Taku people have lived here for thousands of years. They are
Tlingit, with rich artistic traditions including carving, weaving, orating,
singing and dancing. After gold was found, a mining camp sprung up. The town
was organized in 1881. By the turn of the century, the placer miners had
wandered on, but large underground mines were being developed. Juneau was a
gritty mining town up through the 1940s. The mines shut down during World
War II under wartime orders, as they were not considered essential.
After the completion of the Alaska Pipeline (to take petroleum from the
Arctic shore to the Pacific coast), Juneau grew with the growth of state
government.
Named by miner Joseph Juneau.
Geography
Juneau is located at 58°21'5" North, 134°30'42" West (58.351422,
-134.511579)1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area
of 8,430.4 km˛ (3,255.0 mi˛). 7,036.1 km˛ (2,716.7 mi˛) of it is land and
1,394.3 km˛ (538.3 mi˛) of it is water. The total area is 16.54% water.
Adjacent boroughs and census areas
Haines Borough, Alaska - north
Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska - south/west
Also shares eastern border with British Columbia, Canada.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 30,711 people, 11,543 households, and
7,641 families residing in the borough. The population density is 4.4/km˛
(11.3/mi˛). There are 12,282 housing units at an average density of 1.7/km˛
(4.5/mi˛). The racial makeup of the borough is 74.79% White, 0.81% Black or
African American, 11.38% Native American, 4.68% Asian, 0.38% Pacific
Islander, 1.05% from other races, and 6.91% from two or more races. 3.39% of
the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 11,543 households out of which 36.7% have children under the age
of 18 living with them, 51.2% are married couples living together, 10.5%
have a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% are non-families.
24.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 4.3% have someone
living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is
2.60 and the average family size is 3.10.
In the borough the population is spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18,
8.1% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who
are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100
females there are 101.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there
are 100.2 males.
The median income for a household in the borough is $62,034, and the median
income for a family is $70,284. Males have a median income of $46,744 versus
$33,168 for females. The per capita income for the borough is $26,719. 6.0%
of the population and 3.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of
the total people living in poverty, 6.7% are under the age of 18 and 3.9%
are 65 or older.
History
From before the time of European settlement in the Americas, the Gastineau
Channel was a favorite fishing ground for local Tlingit but they had no
permanent settlement there.
In 1880, Sitka mining engineer George Pilz offered a reward to any local
chief who could lead him to gold-bearing ore. Chief Kowee arrived with some
ore and prospectors were sent to investigate. On their first trip, to Gold
Creek, they found little of interest. However, at Chief Kowee's urging, Pilz
sent Joe Juneau and Richard Harris back to the Gastineau Channel. This time
they went to Snow Slide Gulch, the head of Gold Creek, and found nuggets "as
large as peas and beans," in the words of Harris. On October 18, 1880, the
two men marked a 160-acre town site where soon a mining camp appeared.
Within a year the camp became a small town, the first to be founded after
Alaska's purchase by the United States.
At the beginning, the town was called Harrisburg after Richard Harris. Later
it was called Rockwell. In 1881 the miners met and renamed the town Juneau,
after Joe Juneau. In 1906, after the decline whaling and fur trade, Sitka,
the capital of Alaska, declined in importance and the the capital was moved
to Juneau.
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