This Alaskan city faces the Inside Passage, a popular cruise route along the state’s southeastern coast. It’s known for its many Native American totem poles, on display throughout town. From the Ketchikan port, the center of the city was within 10 minutes walking distance.
- Totem Poles
- Creek Street
Totem Poles – We stopped to check out a couple of Totem Poles in the town – Chief Johnson Totem Pole and Raven Stealing the Sun Totem Pole.
Stroll down the picturesque Creek Street – Visited by thousands of visitors every year, historic Creek Street is built along the shores of Ketchikan Creek. It was built over the water because it was simply too difficult to blast away the rocky hills surrounding the creek. The antique boardwalk on wooden pilings over Ketchikan Creek is home to restaurants, unique curio shops, and private dwellings.
The History of Creek Street can be summed up by fishermen, bootleggers, and prostitutes. Creek Street is known as Ketchikan’s old red-light district. In the mid 1920’s there were over 20 bawdy houses on Creek Street alone! The prostitutes or working women were frequented by men looking for a little company and some liquor.
During prohibition, Creek Street was the place to go for a drink as bootleggers would smuggle in Canadian whiskey to supply the houses of prostitution and backroom saloons. Creek Street Ketchikan is built over the water and the bootleggers would simply wait until high tide and would row their rowboats right up the stream to deliver their goods in the cloak of darkness. Most of the houses on Creek Street had hidden trap doors underneath the house just to receive delivery!