Snettisham, Juneau facts for kids
Snettisham was a small town in Alaska, near the city of Juneau. It was located on the coast of Stephens Passage, about 31 miles (50 km) southeast of Juneau. The area was named in 1794 by George Vancouver, an explorer. He named the bay, Port Snettisham, after a village in England where he was born.
Snettisham started as a place for mining gold and silver around 1895. It was connected to other mining activities in the Juneau area. Snettisham stayed a small harbor village until 1926. The United States government even called Snettisham a "special" landing spot for ships. This was to help build new facilities and encourage businesses to grow there.
Businesses in Snettisham included the Alaska-Snettisham Gold Mining Company and the Crystal Gold Mining Company. There was also a company called Pacific Packing and Navigation, and a salmon cannery for the Taku Fishing Company. In 1917, Snettisham was the first place in Alaska to ship out paper pulp. Snettisham also had a post office from 1900 to 1912, helping to send mail to nearby towns.
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The Alaska-Snettisham Gold Mining Company
The Alaska-Snettisham Gold Mining Company was a very important business in Snettisham. It was led by John N. Tisdale, who was the president and general manager. Wythe Denby was the superintendent. John Tisdale was also involved in Alaska's local government. He was even Snettisham's postmaster for a while.
Mining for Gold
The company started working in 1899 and officially became a company on May 31, 1901. They operated two mines: the Friday mine and the Crystal mine.
The Friday mine was developed in 1899. Workers built two long tunnels, one 750 feet (229 meters) long and another 600 feet (183 meters) long. However, operations at the Friday mine stopped in 1904. The gold ore there contained minerals like pyrite and magnetite, which made it very hard to get the gold out.
The Crystal Mine
The Crystal mine was located only about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the Snettisham wharf. The wharf was a dock built under Tisdale's direction. The Crystal mine was discovered in 1895. It was mined by itself from 1901 to 1903 before the Alaska-Snettisham company bought it. Even before the company bought it, the Crystal Mine had already produced $25,000 worth of gold!
The Crystal mine was known for its beautiful quartz crystals and large cubes of pyrite. It also had crystallized octahedra of gold. By 1902, the company's total value was about $892,820.
End of Operations
The Alaska-Snettisham Gold Mining Company stopped all its work in early 1905. In November of that year, John Tisdale sadly drowned in the Harlem River in New York City. The company's official permission to operate was canceled in 1907 because they had not paid taxes since 1904.
