Broadway Avenue: then and now

1898 vs 2017 · Skagway, AK

NowThen

Then, 1898Horses and wagons crowd the dirt street, with hand-painted signs on every building. The date is the one listed on Wikimedia Commons.Photo: Eric A. Hegg · Public domain · Source · resized

Today, 2017A painted shop front on the same street. This is one building, not the whole street, so it is a different view from the 1898 photo.Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source · resized

The story

The first boat of prospectors docked at Moore's wharf on July 29, 1897. By the spring of 1898 an estimated 8,000 people lived here, and about 1,000 more passed through each week on their way to the Klondike.

By June 1898 Skagway was the largest city in Alaska. One North-West Mounted Police officer called it "little better than a hell on earth," and the town had no telegraph until 1901.

The name comes from the Tlingit sha-ka-ԍéi, which refers to rough seas in the Taiya Inlet caused by strong north winds. Today about 1,200 people live here, and much of Broadway is part of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.

Did you know? The town's name is a Tlingit phrase for the rough water that strong north winds stir up in the inlet.

Historians argue about this. The "Now" photo shows one storefront, not the full street, so it is not the same view as the 1898 "Then" photo.

Fact or tall tale?

SolidBy June 1898 Skagway was the largest city in Alaska.
Wikipedia says its population was between 8,000 and 10,000 in June 1898.
Not trueSkagway had a telegraph line by 1898.
Telegraph lines did not reach or leave Skagway until 1901.

Sources

More: Look for historic photos at the Library of Congress

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Next: White Pass and Yukon Route Depot. Written from the cited sources, not yet walked on site unless noted.