Dock Street, in Ketchikan, on a holiday, showing concrete pived street, with steel and concrete buildings on the right and in
the center, directly ahead. Note the scenic beauty of the snow-capped mountain in the rear of the pretty home on the hill.
TIMBER, LUMBER
AND PRODUCTS
In the city of Ketchikan there are
two sawmills which provide lumber
not only for local consumption, one
of which started the export trade,
but they also furnished the boxes
for the salmon canneries and for the
fresh fish shippers of the whole dis
trict.
There has been much talk during
recent years of the development of
pulp and paper manufacturing' plants
in Southeastern Alaska. While only
one pulp mill has actually been start
ed in the Tong-ass National Forest,
several applications for permits to
develop powersites which, the appli
cants say, are for pulp and paper
mills, are now before the federal
government. There is no question
that the Tongass National Forest
furnishes a field for these, with its
vast areas and ready accessibility
to transportation, all being located
right on the water’s edge where
steamers of any draught may navi
gate. In this connection, it is wor
thy of note that Revillagigedo island,
on which Ketchikan is located, of
fers approximately 100,000 horse
power in its undeveloped watersites.
These, no doubt, will one day, and
not in the distant future, be utilized
It has even been said on competent
authority that it would not be a
difficult engineering problem to har
ness at least half of these power
sites for use in a central location,
if at any time it should be deemed
advisable to build one large plant.
With the lumber export business
and the pulp and paper industry in
mind, it is certain that the forests
will ultimately furnish material for
employment for thousands and an
opportunity for capital. It is offi
cially estimated by the foresters that
Alaska can produce two million tons
of paper annually and for all time,
with proper reforesting.
FOX FARMS c
Blue fox farming- is the infant in
dustry of Southeastern Alaska. Tt
has made rapid strides during the
past year until there are a dozen
large farms within a radius of forty
miles of Ketchikan. These farms
are located on islands, each farmer
securing- from the government a
lease on the whole island. These
islands average several square miles
in size and are so surrounded by wa
ter that the foxes are fenced in na
turally.
The blue foxes increase and multi
ply rapidly, a pair producing from
five to thirteen pups in a season.
The average farmer will start with
half a dozen pairs and let them in
crease until he concludes that he has
a sufficient number to permit him to
sell them alive to other farmers as
breeders, or to kill them to send
the skins to market. Several com
panies which were formed to en
gage in this business have started
with as high as fifty pairs of foxes.
THE TOWN
Ketchikan, the city, according to
the official 1920 census, had a popu
lation of some 3200. This is slight
ly increased now, in addition to
which there are some 1500 or 2,000
fishermen who were not listed as
residents of Ketchikan, but who make
their headquarters in Ketchikan, pur
chase their supplies here, and get
their mail here.
The city business is made up of
three substantial department stores,
a wholesale grocery house, two large
cold storage plants, seven canneries,
several miles of waterfront with dock
facilities for the largest vessels en
gaged in the coasting trade, fish
houses and salteries, two daily news
papers, one of which is a member
of the Associated Press; big oil tanks
of two leading companies which are
supplied by tank steamers direct
fro mthe oil fields; bakeries; a first
class automobile service station to
cater to the 181 machines in town;
several large machine shops and a
marine ways to overhaul the fishing
fleets; several substantial and first
class hotels, many grocery stores,
hardware stores, pharmacies, ship
chandleries, fur, jewelry and curio
shops, haberdasheries and clothing
establishments. Then it is the head
quarters for th eUnited States light
house service in Alaska which has a
depot here from which it operates its
lighthouse tenders. The supervisor
of the Tongass National Forest
maintains his offices here, as does
the bureau of immigration, and the
collector of customs is represented
by an office with three deputy col
lectors.
There are four churches in Ketchi
kan, the Methodist, Episcopal, Catho
lic and Presybterian, and the Seventh
Day Adventists are preparing to
build a house of worship. In addi
tion to these, there is a Christian
Science society which meets regular
ly but as yet has no edifice of its
own. The Salvation Army is build
ing a home of its own and is an ac
tive worker in the community.
The municipal government consists
of a mayor and six councilmen, who
choose their executive officers. Ket
chikan appears fortunate in that it
now stands in a position occupied by
few municipalities, as it has no
bonded or other indebtedness, has
not paid a cent of interest in more
than a year and has upwards of
$25,000 in cash in its treasury.
During the last few years Ketchl
kan started to build permanent, con
crete streets. It is the policy of the
city government to extend these
streets yearly and as rapidly as
finances will permit.
For the accommodation of the
business of Ketchikan, the Miners