Haines, Alaska

 

Haines is home to the world's largest congregation of bald eagles, who feed from the hot spring-fed rivers. The Chilkat Bald Eagle Reserve, located 18 miles from Haines, is a major attraction in Southeast Alaska.  Many jobs are seasonal. Tourism and the traffic Haines draw, as a result of its road connection to the State Ferry, are important. Today, around 45,000 cruise ship passengers visit yearly. The Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve draws visitors from around the world.

The fishing is great. Over 3,000 eagles, and a bunch of commercial fisherman can’t be wrong. Haines is the place. 400 eagles congregate in the summer; 3,500 in winter—the world’s largest gathering of spawning chum salmon is in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.  Late summer is the best viewing when the Chum are spawning.

Haines is an artists’ haven. The first artists were Tlingit. Adapting a Tsimshian technique, they wove ceremonial “Chilkat” blankets, characterized by symmetrical, totemic patterns and bold colors. Men created the design; women wove. To create the vibrant colors, artists boiled mountain-goat wool yarn with wolf moss for yellow, hemlock bark and urine for brown, and copper and urine for greenish-blue. Then they finger-wove the wool with cedar bark. It took a year. (Commercial dyes were used after the 1890s)

The Haines area was called "Dei Shu" by the Tlingit, meaning "end of the trail." The Chilkat Tlingit tightly controlled the trading routes between the coast and the Interior. The first non-Native to settle here was George Dickinson, an agent for the North West Trading Co., in 1880. In 1881, S. Young Hall, a Presbyterian minister, received permission from the Chilkat to build the Willard Mission and school. The mission was renamed Haines in 1884 in honor of Mrs. F.E. Haines, Secretary of the Presbyterian Women's Executive Society of Home Missions, who had raised funds for the mission's construction. During the Klondike gold rush in the late 1890s, it grew as a mining supply center, since the Dalton Trail from Chilkat Inlet to Whitehorse offered an easier route to the Yukon for prospectors. Gold was also discovered 36 miles from Haines in 1899 at the Porcupine District. Four canneries had been constructed in the area by the turn of the century. The first permanent U.S. military installation was constructed south of Haines in 1904, Fort William H. Seward. The City was incorporated in 1910. In 1922, the fort was renamed Chilkoot Barracks. Until World War II, it was the only U.S. Army post in Alaska. It was deactivated in 1946 and sold as surplus property to a group of veterans who established it as Port Chilkoot. In 1970, the City of Port Chilkoot (formed in 1956) merged with Haines into one municipality. In 1972, the post was designated a national historic site and the name, Fort William Seward, was restored. The last of the early canneries closed in 1972 due to declining fish stocks. Expansion of the timber industry in the early 1970s fueled growth. The sawmills closed in 1976.

Today Haines primary industries include commercial fishing, timber, government, tourism, and transportation.  It is also the northern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway (ferry) System, a cruise ship port-of-call, and a hub for transportation to and from southeast Alaska. Haines has a State-owned paved runway, with daily scheduled flights to Juneau by small aircraft. There is also a State-owned seaplane base, a State Ferry terminal, and a cruise ship dock. Freight arrives by ship, barge, plane and truck.