Facts about Ketchikan: It's the southernmost sizable city in Alaska. It has an estimated population of about 7,368, making it the 5th most populous city in Alaska. It is known as the "Salmon Fishing Capital of the World". It has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles. It gets an average of 152 inches of rain a year and an average of 37 inches of snow.
Side note: Through NCL, cruise passengers can book "shore excursions" in each town the ship docks at. K&S booked a trip for the whole family in another town. Steven and I decided we would explore Ketchikan on our own.
There's not much land between the water and the mountains so we got off the ship and the town was right there.
The Norwegian Star, looking at the back.
View of Ketchikan from the dock.
The sign welcoming visitors to the "Salmon Fishing Capital of the World".
We stopped at the visitors office and got maps of a walking tour. We went with 3 other siblings and spouses.
Ketchikan has quite a collection of totem poles. I learned some interesting things about totem poles. They were carved to honor deceased ancestors, record history, social events and oral tradition. They were never worshipped as religious objects.
The picture above shows the Chief Kyan totem pole. According to the sign next to it, the figures represent the Crane, the Thunderbird and the Brown Bear.
We saw totem poles all over Ketchikan and there's a Totem Heritage Center in town that houses a display of original totem poles.
This next picture shows a salmon ladder. It is a concrete structure that was built to help the salmon on their way up the creek to their spawning grounds.
This is a view of the Thomas Basin Boat Harbor from Stedman Street. The ships are docked just to the left of the harbor. There's a wooden street in front o fthe buildings to the right.
Creek Street. Ketchikan Creek runs through the middle and the buildings are built on pilings that overhang the creek. This was the "red light district" of Ketchikan.
Dolly Arthur was Ketchikan's most famous madam. This was her house.
Ketchikan Creek. See all the green moss on the rocks--this area gets over 100 inches annually of rainfall. The area is very lush and green.
Another view of Ketchikan from the docks near the ships.
Ketchikan is very hilly and some streets are actually built of wooden staircases. These are called staircase streets.
This is a view of Newtown (which is located west of the historic district) from the ship. You can see that there is very little land between the mountains and the water. We saw this in each town we visited. You can also see how the mountains are solidly covered with evergreen trees. We also saw this everywhere we went.
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