Haines, Alaska
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Haines (
Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),
: ''Deishú'') is a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...
located in Haines Borough,
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, United States. It is in the northern part of the Alaska Panhandle, near
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is an American national park located in Southeast Alaska west of Juneau. President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the area around Glacier Bay a national monument under the Antiquities Act on February 26, 1925. ...
. As of the 2020 census, the population of the Haines CDP was 1,657, down from 1,713 in 2010, concentrating 79.6% of Haines Borough's total population.


History

The original Native name for Haines was Deishú, meaning "end of the trail" by the Chilkat group of
Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),
. It received this name because they could
portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
(carry) their canoes from the
trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...
they used to trade with the interior, which began at the outlet of the
Chilkat River The Chilkat River is a river in British Columbia and southeastern Alaska that flows southward from the Coast Range to the Chilkat Inlet and ultimately Lynn Canal. It is about long. It begins at Chilkat Glacier, in Alaska, flows west and south i ...
, to Dtehshuh and save of rowing around the
Chilkat Peninsula The Chilkat Peninsula is a peninsula in Lynn Canal, Southeast Alaska that divides the Chilkoot and Chilkat Inlets and divides the Chilkat and Chilkoot watersheds. The peninsula extends into Lynn Canal as well. It was first charted in 1794 by J ...
. The first European, George Dickinson, an agent for the
North West Trading Company The North West Trading Company was organized in Portland, Oregon, United States in 1879 by Paul Schulze and Henry Villard in order to do business in Alaska. It established a trading post at Killisnoo in 1878; this soon grew to include a fish pr ...
, settled at Dtehshuh in 1879. In 1881, the Chilkat asked
Sheldon Jackson Sheldon Jackson (May 18, 1834 – May 2, 1909) was a Presbyterian minister, missionary, and political leader. During this career he travelled about one million miles (1.6 million km) and established more than one hundred missions and churches, ...
to send missionaries to the area. Samuel Hall Young, a
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister, was sent. Jackson built the Chilkat Mission and school at Dtehshuh in 1881, on land given to the church by the Chilkat. The Mission was renamed "Haines" in 1884 in honor of Francina E. Haines, the chairwoman of the committee that raised funds for its construction. At the time, the boundary between Canada and the U.S. was disputed and vaguely defined. There were overlapping land claims from the United States' purchase of Alaska from
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
in 1867 and British claims along the coast. The Klondike Gold Rush of 1896–1899 changed the region greatly. Haines became a supply center for the
Dalton Trail The Dalton Trail is a trail that runs between Pyramid Harbor, west of Haines, Alaska in the United States, and Fort Selkirk, in the Yukon Territory of Canada, using the Chilkat Pass. It is 396 km (246 mi) long. Originally, the Chil ...
from
Chilkat Inlet Chilkat Inlet is an inlet in Lynn Canal in the Southeast region of the U.S. state of Alaska that includes the delta for the Chilkat River and borders Haines and the Chilkat Peninsula. It was first charted in 1794 by Joseph Whidbey, master of dur ...
offered a route to the
Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
for prospectors. Gold was also discovered from Haines in 1899 at the Porcupine District. The sudden importance of the region increased the urgency of fixing an exact boundary. There were reports that Canadian citizens were harassed by the U.S. as a deterrent to making any land claims. In 1898 the national governments agreed on a compromise, but the government of British Columbia rejected it. U.S. President McKinley proposed a permanent lease of a port near Haines, but Canada rejected that compromise. The economy continued to grow and diversify. Four canneries were constructed around the mission by 1900. However, the completion of the
White Pass and Yukon Route The White Pass and Yukon Route (WP&Y, WP&YR) is a Canadian and U.S. Class III narrow-gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railr ...
railway in neighboring
Skagway The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with ...
that same year led to the Dalton Trail's eventual abandonment and Haines' economic decline. In 1903, the
Hay-Herbert Treaty The Alaska boundary dispute was a territorial dispute between the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which then controlled Canada's foreign relations. It was resolved by arbitration in 1903. The dispute had existe ...
entrusted the border decision to arbitration by a mixed tribunal of six members, three American and three Canadian–British, who determined in favor of the United States, resulting in the present-day border. Fort William H. Seward, a
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
installation, was constructed south of Haines and completed by 1904, on property donated by the mission from its holdings. In 1922, the fort was renamed Chilkoot Barracks. It was the only United States Army post in Alaska before World War II. During World War II, it was used as a supply point for some U.S. Army activities in Alaska. The fort was deactivated in 1946 and sold as surplus property to a group of investors (Ted Gregg, Carl Heinmiller, Marty Cordes, Clarence Mattson, and Steve Homer) who called it "Port Chilkoot", thus forming the Port Chilkoot Company. Port Chilkoot was incorporated as a city in 1956. In 1970, Port Chilkoot merged with Haines into one municipality. Heinmiller was Port Chilkoot's mayor for the majority of its existence as a separate city. In 1972, the fort was designated a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
and the name, Fort William H. Seward, was restored. Haines was the southern terminal of the Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline (not connected or related to the
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is an oil transportation system spanning Alaska, including the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one o ...
), which provided refined petroleum products to
Fort Greely Fort Greely is a United States Army launch site for anti-ballistic missiles located about southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. It is also the home of the Cold Regions Test Center (CRTC), as Fort Greely is one of the coldest areas in Alaska, and can ...
,
Eielson Air Force Base Eielson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska and just southeast of Moose Creek, Alaska. It was established in 1943 as Mile 26 Satellite Field and redes ...
, and
Ladd Air Force Base Ladd Army Airfield is the military airfield located at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska. It was originally called Fairbanks Air Base, but was renamed Ladd Field on 1 December 1939, in honor of Major Arthur K. Ladd, a pilot in the U.S. Ar ...
(transferred to the Army as Fort Wainwright in 1961). This , pipeline carried diesel, automotive gas, jet fuel and aviation gas from Haines to Fairbanks from 1955 until it was retired by the U.S. Army in 1973, due to deterioration and prohibitive repair costs. An Army facility with storage tanks existed alongside the Haines Terminal, which was maintained by the Army for another decade. The construction and maintenance of the terminal and storage facility were a significant factor in the Haines economy for four decades. All but one of the canneries had closed by 1972 due to declining fish stocks, thus leaving Haines Packing Co. as the sole remaining cannery presently located in Haines. Nonetheless, commercial fishing remains an important part of the local economy. Logging and sawing timber has been an industry around Haines but has declined also in recent years. In October 2002, voters approved a measure consolidating the city of Haines and Haines Borough into a
home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...
.


Geography and climate

Haines has a dry-summer
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
with warm summers (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Dsb''), although featuring nearly double the precipitation of nearby
Skagway The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with ...
. The Haines CDP is located in the north-central part of Haines Borough at . The CDP is situated on the
Chilkat Peninsula The Chilkat Peninsula is a peninsula in Lynn Canal, Southeast Alaska that divides the Chilkoot and Chilkat Inlets and divides the Chilkat and Chilkoot watersheds. The peninsula extends into Lynn Canal as well. It was first charted in 1794 by J ...
at a narrow spot called the Deshu Isthmus. The community is bounded by Portage Cove of
Chilkoot Inlet Chilkoot Inlet is an inlet in the Southeast region of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the eastern side of the Chilkat Peninsula in Lynn Canal. Chilkoot Inlet is the terminus of the Chilkoot River and its watershed, and also home to Lutak ...
to the east and by the
Chilkat River The Chilkat River is a river in British Columbia and southeastern Alaska that flows southward from the Coast Range to the Chilkat Inlet and ultimately Lynn Canal. It is about long. It begins at Chilkat Glacier, in Alaska, flows west and south i ...
at its mouth into the
Chilkat Inlet Chilkat Inlet is an inlet in Lynn Canal in the Southeast region of the U.S. state of Alaska that includes the delta for the Chilkat River and borders Haines and the Chilkat Peninsula. It was first charted in 1794 by Joseph Whidbey, master of dur ...
to the west. To the south, down the Chilkat Peninsula, Haines is bordered by the CDP of Mud Bay, and, to the north, it is bordered by the Lutak CDP.
Alaska Route 7 Alaska Route 7 (abbreviated as AK-7) is a state highway in the Alaska Panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It consists of four unconnected pieces, serving some of the Panhandle communities at which the Alaska Marine Highway ferries stop, and co ...
, the Haines Highway, terminates at Haines and leads northwest to the Canadian border near
Pleasant Camp, British Columbia Pleasant Camp is a government facility in the remote Atlin District of northwestern British Columbia, Canada at an elevation of . It is the western-most community in British Columbia (see Extreme communities of Canada). The sole structures are the ...
. The Haines Highway continues north to a junction with the
Alaska Highway


References


External links

*
Haines Chamber of CommerceHaines Convention and Visitors Bureau

Haines Borough official website

American Legion Lynn Canal Post 12
from Haines {{authority control Borough seats in Alaska Census-designated places in Alaska Former cities in Alaska Populated coastal places in Alaska on the Pacific Ocean Census-designated places in Haines Borough, Alaska