USA - Alaska - Ketchikan

KETCHIKAN, ALASKA
Aerial view of downtown Ketchikan with the cruise ship dock.

Sent by Sarah, a WiP partner from Alaska, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : Ketchikan is a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost sizable city in that state. With an estimated population of 7,368 in 2010 within the city limits, it is the fifth most populous city in the state.

Ketchikan's economy is based upon tourism and fishing, and the city is known as the "Salmon Capital of the World." The Misty Fjords National Monument is one of the area's major attractions. For most of the latter half of the 20th century, a large portion of Ketchikan's economy and life centered around the Ketchikan Pulp Company pulp mill in nearby Ward Cove.

Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town. Ketchikan comes from the Tlingit name for the creek, Kitschk-hin, the meaning of which is unclear. It may mean "the river belonging to Kitschk"; other accounts claim it means "Thundering Wings of an Eagle."

Ketchikan's secondary post office box ZIP code, 99950, is the highest ZIP code ever assigned in the United States, although most residents use the ZIP code 99901. Ketchikan also has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles, found at three major locations: the City of Saxman, Totem Bight State Park, and the Totem Heritage Center. Some totem poles are replicas made during the Roosevelt Administration through the CCC, which employed Natives in replicating their heritage through carving totems.

Ketchikan is located on Revillagigedo Island, 90 miles (145 km) north of Prince Rupert, British Columbia and 235 miles (378 km) south of Juneau, Alaska.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.1 square miles (10.7 km²). 3.4 square miles (8.7 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.0 km²) of it (18.60%) is water.

The ½-mile-wide channel called the Tongass Narrows separates Ketchikan from Gravina Island, where Ketchikan International Airport is located. In August 2005 the 2005 Highway Bill provided for $223M to build the Gravina Island Bridge (nicknamed "the Bridge to Nowhere" by its critics) between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. The bridge would have connected the island of Ketchikan to Gravina Island where the airport is located, so that one can drive to the airport rather than taking the ferry across the waters. After years of national and international ridicule over the expense of this project, the Alaska government ultimately chose not to build the bridge, and will spend the appropriated funds elsewhere.