Destruction Bay is a small community on the
Alaska Highway (historical mile 1083) in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
's
Yukon on
Kluane Lake.
Populated mostly by non-aboriginal residents, community residents provide Yukon government services to residents in the area (school, highway maintenance), including nearby
Burwash Landing and some tourism-related businesses along the Alaska Highway. The name is derived from the wind blowing down structures erected by the military during highway construction in 1942–43.
The community has a one-room school serving kindergarten through grade eight.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada, Destruction Bay had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
History
In 1942, a camp was set up to be used by crews working to build the
Alaska Highway.
It was used for housing of workers, as well as a stopping place for truckers to rest, refuel, and service their equipment.
Not long after it was built, a severe windstorm destroyed many of the buildings in the camp, leading to the name Destruction Bay.
References
External links
Community ProfileDestruction Bay, ''
The Canadian Encyclopedia''
AccuWeather
Settlements in Yukon
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