Ketchikan ( ; , ) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough on Revillagigedo Island of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic Landmark District.
With a population at the 2020 census of 8,192, up from 8,050 in 2010, it is the sixth-most populous city in the state, and thirteenth-most populous community when census-designated places are included. The surrounding borough, encompassing suburbs both north and south of the city along the Tongass Highway (most of which are commonly regarded as a part of Ketchikan, albeit not a part of the city itself), in addition to small rural settlements accessible mostly by water, registered a population of 13,948 in that same census.
Incorporated on August 25, 1900, Ketchikan is the earliest extant incorporated city in Alaska, because consolidation or unification elsewhere in Alaska resulted in the dissolution of those communities' city governments. Ketchikan is located on Revillagigedo Island, so named in 1793 by Captain George Vancouver.
Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town, emptying into the Tongass Narrows a short distance southeast of its downtown. "Ketchikan" comes from the Tlingit name for the creek, , the meaning of which is unclear. It may mean "the river belonging to Kitschk"; other accounts claim it means "Thundering Wings of an Eagle". In modern Tlingit, this name is .Edwards, Keri. Dictionary of Tlingit. Juneau: Sealaska Heritage Institute, 2009.
One of Ketchikan's ZIP codes, 99950, is the ZIP code with the highest number in the United States.
History
Ketchikan Creek served as a summer fish camp for Tlingit natives for many years before the town was established by Mike Martin in 1885. He was sent to the area by an Oregon canning company to assess prospects. He established the saltery Clark & Martin and a general store with Nova Scotia native George Clark, who had been foreman at a cannery that burned down.
Ketchikan became known as "Alaska's first city" due to its strategic position at the southern tip of the Inside Passage, connecting the Gulf of Alaska to Puget Sound.
In 1905 a mission house was built, which in 1909 became the Yates Memorial Hospital. In 2020, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the former hospital as one of America's most endangered historic places.
Totem poles
Ketchikan has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles, found throughout the city and at four major locations: Saxman Totem Park, Totem Bight State Park, Potlatch Park, and the Totem Heritage Center. Most of the totems at Saxman Totem Park and Totem Bight State Park are recarvings of older poles, a practice that began during the Roosevelt Administration through the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Totem Heritage Center displays preserved 19th-century poles rescued from abandoned village sites near Ketchikan. The Chief Kyan pole in Whale Park in the city center is one of the featured background images in most US passports.
According to art historian Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, the Chief Johnson totem pole in Ketchikan is the most photographed totem pole in Alaska.
Geography
Ketchikan's GPS geographic coordinates are latitude 55.342 (slightly south of both Copenhagen, Denmark at 55.676 and Glasgow, Scotland at 55.864) and longitude -131.648. The city is located in southernmost Southeast Alaska on Revillagigedo Island, northwest of Seattle, Washington, southeast of Juneau, Alaska, and northwest of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. It is surrounded by the Tongass National Forest, which is managed by the United States Forest Service from its headquarters in the Ketchikan Federal Building downtown, and to the south by the Tongass Narrows, a narrow east–west saltwater channel, which is part of the Inside Passage.
Due to its steep and forested terrain, Ketchikan is long and narrow with much of the built-up area being located along, or no more than a few city blocks from, the waterfront. Elevations of inhabited areas range from just above sea level to about . Deer Mountain, a peak, rises immediately east of the city's downtown area.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of . of it is land and of it (29.14%) is water.
The half-mile (800 m) wide channel called the Tongass Narrows separates Ketchikan from Gravina Island, where Ketchikan International Airport is located.
Climate
Ketchikan has a mild maritime or oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb, Trewartha Dolk), characterized by heavy cloud cover, high humidity and abundant rainfall throughout the year (even in the driest month), earning it the nickname of the "Rain Capital of Alaska". Prolonged breaks in the very wet weather occur only when very cold air from the Yukon penetrates the coastal mountains, bringing frigid and clear conditions all the way to the coast,See and often leaving residents unprepared as water pipes will then freeze. This occurred notably in January of 1916, 1950 and 1969.
Outside of these continental outbreaks winters are chilly but milder than its latitude alone may suggest: January has a 24-hour average of with an average daytime high of and an overnight low of . Further east and away from moderating maritime influence, winters on these parallels in inland North America are much colder. Summers are mild, as August's temperature averages with an average daytime high of and an overnight low of . Rainfall averages per year, falling more heavily in autumn and winter. On average, the growing season (non-freezing temperatures) lasts about 6.3 months or 191 days, extending from about April 19 to about October 27.
The record high temperature in Ketchikan was on June 25, 1913. The record low temperature was on January 23, 1916. The wettest year was 1949 with and the driest year was 1995 with . The most rainfall in one month was during November 1917 and the most rainfall in 24 hours was on October 11, 1977. The most snowfall in one month was in January 1971.
Demographics
Ketchikan first appeared on the 1890 U.S. Census as the unincorporated village of "Kichikan." Of its 40 residents, 26 were Native, nine were White and five were Creole (Mixed Russian and Native). It returned as Ketchikan beginning in 1900 and in every successive census. It incorporated as a city also in 1900.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Ketchikan had a population of 8,192. The median age was 39.0 years. 21.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 100.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.9 males age 18 and over.
94.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 5.7% lived in rural areas.
There were 3,247 households in Ketchikan, of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 36.8% were married-couple households, 23.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 3,830 housing units, of which 15.2% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 13.6%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 4,269 52.1% Black or African American 83 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native 1,608 19.6% Asian 1,022 12.5% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 19 0.2% Some other race 139 1.7% Two or more races 1,052 12.8% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 411 5.0%
2010 census
, there were 8,050 people, 3,259 households, and 1,885 families residing in the city. There were 3,731 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 60.7% White, 16.7% Native American (8.3% Tlingit-Haida, 1.9% Tsimshian), 10.8% Asian (9.4% Filipino), 10.0% from two or more races, 0.8% Black or African American, 0.3% Pacific Islander, and 0.7% some other race. 4.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino (2.6% Mexican) of any race.
Of the 3,259 households, 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.6% were headed by married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.0% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41, and the average family size was 3.07.
The population was spread by age ranges, with 23.9% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.
2017 estimates
In 2017, the population density was 1,829.5 per square mile (714.1/km2). The ACS-estimated median and average annual incomes for a household in the city were $56,372 and $70,490, respectively. The median and average incomes for a family were $68,438 and $84,518, respectively. The per capita income for the city was $30,474. About 12.4% of the population, including 19.8% of those under 18-years old, were below the poverty line.
Language
90.0% spoke English, 6.0% Tagalog, 1.8% Spanish, and 0.7% Tsimshian as their first language. Media
Ketchikan is home to four radio stations: KTKN-AM 930, KGTW-FM 106.7, KFMJ-FM 99.9, and community-owned NPR-affiliated KRBD-FM 105.3.
Ketchikan has one over-the-air broadcast television station, KUBD, Channel 13 digital and 4 visual, a CBS network affiliate.
Ketchikan also houses the publishing offices of the Ketchikan Daily News.
The region has local cable television programming provided by Ketchikan Public Utilities, including public meetings, Southeast Alaska programming, Ketchikan High School sports and events, local history, gardening and scenes, and a calendar of upcoming local events; local television signals carried on the cable system are also translations of Seattle and Anchorage stations.
Government and infrastructure
The City of Ketchikan operates under a council-manager form of government. The Ketchikan Gateway Borough includes both the City of Ketchikan and the City of Saxman and encompasses more than from the Canada–US border to just south of Wrangell. The Alaska Marine Highway System has its headquarters in Ketchikan."Contact Us ." Alaska Marine Highway. Retrieved on October 25, 2009.
Over the decades, Ketchikan has produced a number of political figures of note to Alaska in general. In territorial days, Norman Ray "Doc" Walker, a Canadian-born pharmacist practicing in Ketchikan, was the first career member of the Alaska Legislature. Walker served in the territorial Senate for 16 years before losing reelection in 1948. Ketchikan native Terry Gardiner was the youngest person elected to the Alaska House of Representatives, at age 22.
The United States Coast Guard maintains a large shore installation, Coast Guard Base Ketchikan, south of the downtown area, which serves as a home port to three cutters and as a regional maintenance base for Alaska.
One of Ketchikan's two ZIP codes, 99950, is the highest numbered in the United States.
Economy and industries
A major and first port of entry into Alaska, Ketchikan's economy has been based on fishing industries, canneries in particular, tourism, government, and forestry. Average annual civilian employment in 2017 was 4,070, with a substantial seasonal work force peaking in July.
The area near the mouth of Ketchikan Creek earned Ketchikan a measure of infamy during the first half of the 20th century for a red-light district known as Creek Street, with brothels aligned on either side of the creek.