Skagway
Skagway · USGS GNIS name record 1414754
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USGS GNIS Populated Place names in all 50 states and DC. Features in the historical extract or explicitly named historical are excluded; duplicate decision records with identical identities and coordinates are collapsed. GNIS points identify names, not legal or neighborhood boundaries, current occupancy, school attendance or a statistical population. Nearby Census places and tracts remain separately named geographies. Name completeness and currency vary; this is not a claim to include every locally used neighborhood name.
Original USGS record for Skagway ↗Dataset snapshot 2026-09-02 · Source record edited 06/07/2022 · NAD83 · approximate source location
USGS description & history
population 659 at mouth of Skagway River, near head of Taiya Inlet, 90 mi. NW of Juneau, Coast Mts.
Name derived from Skagway River. The town, called "The Gateway to the Golden Interior," was founded in 1897 by Captain William Moore, who had a cabin here, when gold was first discovered in 1896 near Dawson, on the Yukon River. The town served as a base of operations for thousands of prospectors during the Klondike gold rush of 1897-98, and became the largest town in Alaska at that time. Both Canada and the United States claimed possession, but Canada yielded to the United States until the boundary dispute was settled. Skagway post office was established in 1897, and the population grew to 3,117 in 1900. The town is the terminus of the White Pass and Yukon RR which was built to Whitehorse in Yukon, Canada during the gold rush period. A military post at Skagway was called "Skaguay" by the U.S. Army.
Source notes may describe earlier conditions.Source files & checksums
SHA-256 20c96936a3ba430b345eed1c7395b6aab52875aac8e1e2905fab37b388cab381
SHA-256 45ad8d56b3bb4990ad8105cdda15ee7d2f07afd6941afe75b783f29b02723697
SHA-256 919fac887628b8547ec1b24fae319522a9481a56909c3914d1e0a2b56783147c