Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

National Historic Sites are protected areas of national historic significance in the United States. A National Historic Site usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject...

commemorating the Klondike Gold Rush

Klondike Gold Rush

The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...

of the late 1890s. The gold rush was in the Yukon Territory, and this park comprises staging areas for the trek there, and routes leading in its direction. The park consists of four units: three in the Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska

Skagway, Alaska

Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska, on the Alaska Panhandle. It was formerly a city first incorporated in 1900 that was re-incorporated as a borough on June 25, 2007. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city was 862...

and a fourth in the Pioneer Square National Historic District

Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington

Pioneer Square is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of Downtown Seattle, Washington, USA. It was once the heart of the city: Seattle's founders settled there in 1852, following a brief six-month settlement at Alki Point on the far side of Elliott Bay. The early structures in the neighborhood...

in Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

.

The story of the Klondike Gold Rush can only be appreciated by looking on both sides of the Canada–United States border. National historic sites in Whitehorse

Whitehorse, Yukon

Whitehorse is Yukon's capital and largest city . It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1476 on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas occupy both shores of the Yukon River, which originates in British Columbia and meets the Bering Sea in...

and Dawson City, Yukon

Yukon

Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

, as well as in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, complete the story. In 1998, Klondike Gold Rush NHP joined with Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site, Dawson Historical Complex National Historic Site, and other Parks Canada

Parks Canada

Parks Canada , also known as the Parks Canada Agency , is an agency of the Government of Canada mandated to protect and present nationally significant natural and cultural heritage, and foster public understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative...

sites to form the Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park.

Skagway unit

The Skagway unit protects much of downtown Skagway including 15 restored historic buildings. The visitor center in Skagway is located in the historic White Pass and Yukon Route railroad depot building at 2nd and Broadway.

From the visitor center, visitors to the park can experience the history of Skagway and the gold rush by participating in ranger led walking tours or by watching the park movie.

The park also preserves portions of the White Pass Trail

White Pass

White Pass is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada...

and the Chilkoot Trail

Chilkoot Trail

The Chilkoot Trail is a 33 miles trail through the Coast Mountains that leads from Dyea, Alaska in the United States, to Bennett, British Columbia in Canada....

, which leaves from the historic townsite of Dyea

Dyea, Alaska

Dyea is a former town in the U.S. state of Alaska. A few people live on individual small homesteads in the valley; however, it is largely abandoned. It is located at the convergence of the Taiya River and Taiya Inlet on the south side of the Chilkoot Pass within the limits of the Municipality of...

, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

and runs to Bennett Lake, from which prospectors could raft to Dawson City, Yukon.

The historic townsite of Dyea is also part of the historical park. The trail center in Skagway is operated by both the National Park Service and Parks Canada and has information regarding current traveling conditions along the Chilkoot Trail. A permit is required to hike the 33-mile historic trail.

Seattle unit

An integral part of the park is the Visitor's Center in Seattle, Washington, in the Pioneer Square National Historic District

Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington

. It functions as an interpretive center and museum, and also has information on how to visit the Skagway unit of the park. It opened June 2, 1979, and was located in the Union Trust Annex (built 1902), across Main Street from Occidental Park

Occidental Park (Seattle)

Occidental Park, also referred to as Occidental Square and Occidental Mall , is a 0.6 acre public park located in the Pioneer Square district of Seattle, Washington. Created in 1971, it essentially consists of the Occidental Avenue S. right-of-way between S. Washington and S...

.

The Seattle unit is now located in an 1889 building, the Cadillac Hotel at 319 Second Avenue South. The Cadillac Hotel building was a major point of outfitting and departure during the gold rush stampede. Severely damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, it was rehabilitated 2004–2005 as home to the Seattle Unit of the park, and was opened and dedicated 26 June 2006.

An international park

In 1969, the US and Canadian governments jointly declared their intention to make Chilkoot Trail a component of a Klondike Gold Rush International Historic Park. The US portion was eventually established in 1976 as part of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.

The B.C. portion of the trail became Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site, one of several sites in the national park system associated with the Klondike. But it wasn't until the centennial of the gold rush, in 1998, that the dream of an international park was realized, when Klondike Gold Rush NHP and Chilkoot Trail NHS joined to form Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park. Their previous legal names were retained, while the new name reflected co-operative management between the two park services, and the formalization of relations which had in fact been going on for years.

Beyond this, the International Historical Park includes Dawson Historical Complex National Historic Site, in Dawson City, Yukon, which includes some 16 significant buildings. In addition, "The Thirty Mile" section of the Yukon River, a national heritage river

Canadian Heritage Rivers System

The Canadian Heritage Rivers System was established in 1984 by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to conserve and protect the best examples of Canada's river heritage, to give them national recognition, and to encourage the public to enjoy and appreciate them. It is a cooperative...

from Lake Laberge

Lake Laberge

Lake Laberge is a widening of the Yukon River north of Whitehorse, Yukon in Canada. It is fifty kilometres long and ranges from two to five kilometres wide. Its water is always very cold, and its weather often harsh and suddenly variable....

to the Teslin River

Teslin River

The Teslin River is a river in southern Yukon Territory and northwestern British Columbia, Canada, that flows 393 miles from its source south of Teslin Lake to its confluence with the Yukon River....

, is a unit of the international park.

External links

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