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Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Kennicott Mining
Three hundred miles east of Anchorage in a glacier-carved valley deep in the heart of the Wrangell St. Elias National Park are the historic ghost towns of Kennecott and McCarthy. These towns sprang up in the early 1900’s after “Tarantula Jack” Smith and Clarence Warner discovered the richest copper deposit in history. Kennecott quickly became the most modern city in Alaska, boasting running water and a hospital at a time when Anchorage was populated with tents.
Abandoned in 1938, many of the mines, buildings and equipment stand as they were on that last day, leaving a living history of those rugged days of high adventure. In the last few years the National Park Service purchased the property and began stabilization and restoration of some of the buildings. Guided tours into the mine buildings are offered by St. Elias Alpine Guides, whose knowledgeable guides will bring to life the miraculous story of this world-class copper mine.
The Kennecott and McCarthy Alaska ghost towns are a day drive or a short flight from Anchorage, located near the end of the McCarthy Road. Nearby lodging is available at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge, a replica of the historic mining buildings featuring quiet bedrooms filled with mining artifacts.
In the early 1900s the Kennecott Mining Co. transported copper from its mines near McCarthy by railroad along the Chitina and Copper rivers to ships at Cordova. Ore was extracted from these productive mines between 1911 and 1938 and lured many people to the area. Gold was extracted from the Nabesna area, then too. Mining still takes place on private lands in the park, and evidence of earlier mining includes ruins of the Kennecott mines, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In mining's heyday the Indian villages expanded and several new towns sprang up. Copper Center, Chitina, Gulkana, and Chistochina are among the old Athabascan settlements. The town of Yakutat is a traditional Tlingit fishing village.
Abandoned in 1938, many of the mines, buildings and equipment stand as they were on that last day, leaving a living history of those rugged days of high adventure. In the last few years the National Park Service purchased the property and began stabilization and restoration of some of the buildings. Guided tours into the mine buildings are offered by St. Elias Alpine Guides, whose knowledgeable guides will bring to life the miraculous story of this world-class copper mine.
The Kennecott and McCarthy Alaska ghost towns are a day drive or a short flight from Anchorage, located near the end of the McCarthy Road. Nearby lodging is available at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge, a replica of the historic mining buildings featuring quiet bedrooms filled with mining artifacts.
In the early 1900s the Kennecott Mining Co. transported copper from its mines near McCarthy by railroad along the Chitina and Copper rivers to ships at Cordova. Ore was extracted from these productive mines between 1911 and 1938 and lured many people to the area. Gold was extracted from the Nabesna area, then too. Mining still takes place on private lands in the park, and evidence of earlier mining includes ruins of the Kennecott mines, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In mining's heyday the Indian villages expanded and several new towns sprang up. Copper Center, Chitina, Gulkana, and Chistochina are among the old Athabascan settlements. The town of Yakutat is a traditional Tlingit fishing village.
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