Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

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., ...

, presently incorporated as a unified

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 ...

municipality called the City and Borough of Juneau, was designated the capital of Alaska on June 6, 1900. The

organic act In United States law, an organic act is an act of the United States Congress that establishes a territory of the United States and specifies how it is to be governed, or an agency to manage certain federal lands. In the absence of an organ ...

passed by the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

which established Juneau as the capital also allowed Alaskan communities to

incorporate Incorporation may refer to: * Incorporation (business), the creation of a corporation * Incorporation of a place, creation of municipal corporation such as a city or county * Incorporation (academic), awarding a degree based on the student having ...

for the first time.

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

and Nome both established "provisional governments" prior to this; Juneau did not follow suit, but did provide limited public services prior to incorporation, such as

fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as we ...

and school instruction. Following the passage of the organic act, Juneau's incorporation petition was certified and the first election of officials occurred on June 29, 1900.

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

, located a short distance southwest of Juneau across

Gastineau Channel Gastineau Channel (Lingít: ''Séet Ká'') is a channel between the mainland of the U.S. state of Alaska and Douglas Island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska. It separates Juneau on the mainland side from Douglas (now part of J ...

, followed suit by incorporating on March 29, 1902. Twenty-eight individuals served as the Mayor of Juneau, Alaska, including three acting mayors, while another twenty-five individuals served as mayor of Douglas, Alaska. The Greater Juneau Borough was incorporated in October 1963, established by an act of the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

earlier that year (Chapter 52, Session Laws of Alaska 1963) which required the most populous election districts in the state to incorporate as boroughs by January 1, 1964. The borough, the first to incorporate as a first-class borough, encompassed the two incorporated cities, several surrounding suburbs and smaller settlements on both sides of Gastineau Channel and along

Lynn Canal Lynn Canal is an inlet (not an artificial canal) into the mainland of southeast Alaska. Lynn Canal runs about from the inlets of the Chilkat River south to Chatham Strait and Stephens Passage. At over in depth, Lynn Canal is the deepest fjord ...

, plus thousands of square miles of surrounding wilderness. Several years after the borough's incorporation, the legislature passed a bill allowing for boroughs and cities to unify (or merge). Several years after that, Juneau, Douglas and the borough unified to form the current municipality, which incorporated on July 1, 1970. As of the office's last election in 2018, sixteen people have served as mayor of Juneau under this government.

Mayors of the City of Juneau, Alaska (1900–1970)

Juneau was incorporated on June 29, 1900, and was a

city prior to unification.

Mayors of the City of Douglas, Alaska (1902–1970)

Douglas was incorporated on March 29, 1902, and was also a home rule city prior to unification.."1968 Directory Borough & City Officials", ''Alaska Local Government'', p. 21

Mayors of the Greater Juneau Borough, Alaska (1963–1970)

Mayors of the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska (1970–present)

References

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