Ketchikan Museums & Cultural Centers

In the muse­um are artifacts,text and pho­tos telling of Alaska’s spir­it­ed First City as a Native fish camp, min­ing hub, salmon can­ning cap­i­tal, fish­ing port and tim­ber town. The Cen­ten­ni­al Build­ing com­mem­o­rates the pur­chase of Alas­ka from Rus­sia in 1867. In front is the Raven Steal­ing the Sun pole, carved by Dempsey Bob and raised in 1983.

If you want a chance to sit back and enjoy an icon­ic view of Alas­ka, catch up on your work, or peruse a large col­lec­tion of Alaskana, there’s no more per­fect place than the new Ketchikan library.

List­ed on the Nation­al Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places, this col­lec­tion of 19^th cen­tu­ry totem poles is the biggest in the world. Sal­vaged from aban­doned Hai­da and Tlin­git vil­lages, some are as old as 160 years — no small feat, since totem poles usu­al­ly dete­ri­o­rate in less than a cen­tu­ry. You can take a quick, free tour, or check out the cur­rent exhibits of con­tem­po­rary Tlin­git art.

Dol­ly Arthur was Ketchikan’s most famous madam in the hey­day of Creek Street. Her house, pre­served much as she left it, fea­tures antiques caches and gar­ish décor. Tours are pro­vid­ed for a fee.

Here you’ll find real peo­ple who make a liv­ing on the ocean com­ing off their boats – more often than not cov­ered in fish slime.

High­est qual­i­ty Native art from the North­west Coast and through­out Alas­ka in the Peter’s homey shop, Arc­tic Dreams, locat­ed on his­toric Mis­sion Street just a short walk from the cruise ship docks.