Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith was a con man who ran gangs in Denver and Creede before he moved to Skagway during the Klondike gold rush. His nickname came from his "prize soap racket," in which he sold wrapped bars of soap and made it look as if a few hid cash prizes.
He opened Jeff. Smith's Parlor in March 1898 as an office from which to run his operations. He and his gang tricked miners for only about three months. On July 8, 1898, Smith was shot dead in the Shootout on Juneau Wharf by Frank Reid and Jesse Murphy.
Martin Itjen bought the building in 1922 and made it a museum with animatronic figures of Smith and his gang. It stayed open until 1986. The National Park Service received it in 2007 and reopened it in April 2016.