‘Edge of Alaska,’ chronicled the day-to-day activities of people of McCarthy, Alaska and the lives of forty residents, including Jeremy Keller and his wife Alison, Neil Darish, Jenny Rosenbaum and more. A chemist named E.T. Addi­tions were added to pro­vide more space for the office, safe, pay­roll, and draft­ing. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Free personal GPS–driven travel guide to Alaska. McCarthy, Alaska was not the first town established to support the mining town of Kennicott. Soft shoulders have led to numerous accidents and vehicle damage. In the 1960’s the Kennecott Copper Corporation sold its land, structures, and surface mining rights to Consolidated Wrangell Mining Co. The old mining town of Kennicott in the US state of Alaska is located on the south slopes of Wrangell mountain close to the Kennicott Glacier, about five miles up from the small town of McCarthy. No products in the cart. Source: McCarthy Ken­ni­cott His­tor­i­cal Museum, West Bunkhouse was built in 1917, mak­ing it Ken­necot­t’s third bunkhouse. At 238 feet above the bottom of a gorge this span is known as the biggest thrill on the road to McCarthy. Five miles from where the road ends is the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark. There use to be a staff house next door that was used to house female employ­ees and unmar­ried man­age­ment. Kennecott, Alaska is a ghost town frozen in time. Copper became an extremely valuable mineral at the turn of the century due to the inventions of electricity, automobiles, and telephones. Kennicott war das Versorgungszentrum mehrerer Kupferbergwerke. Lat­er on, parts of the bunkhouse were used as a place to bot­tle dairy and as a tem­po­rary den­tist’s office. By 1938, Kennecott was a ghost town. Self-drive vacations. Kennecott Mines: An Alaskan Ghost Town 7/01/2020. Offer subject to change without notice. Winner will be selected at random on 01/01/2021. Almost all the cot­tages are now pri­vate­ly owned. Kennicott, auch bekannt als Kennecott, ist eine Geisterstadt in Alaska, nördlich von Valdez im Wrangell-St.-Elias-Nationalpark. In 1900, a pair of prospectors hiking near Alaska’s Kennicott glacier discovered an outcrop of copper ore on a mountainside about 100 miles inland … Sign-up for any of the following email series to help plan your Alaska trip. In the 27 years the mine was in full operation, the company made more than $100 million, and a company town grew around the mines. Which one is right for you? Due to a clerical error, the corporation and town used the spelling of Kennecott instead of Kennicott, named for Kennicott Glacier in the valley below the town. Rent a car and travel independently on a set itinerary, with lodging and tours booked in advance. your own Pins on Pinterest The town was never repopulated only residents who were involved in the tourism business lived around the area. 7-10 days is the most common. Source: McCarthy Ken­ni­cott His­tor­i­cal Museum, Con­struc­tion of this 14-sto­ry state-of-the-art mill began in 1908 and took 10 years to com­plete. Kennecott in Alaska: The former mining camp, now a ghost town. The road follows the route of the previous CRNW Railroad, starting in the town of Chitina and ending a 1/2 mile before McCarthy. Ghost Towns of America: Kennecott, Alaska By John Misachi on October 25 2017 in Travel The mining town of Kennecott, Alaska was abandoned in 1938. You need a guide to explore inside the actual building. Today, Kennicott is a ghost town and McCarthy has a year-round population of just a couple of dozen people. Source: McCarthy Ken­ni­cott His­tor­i­cal Museum, The log cab­in sec­tion of Gen­er­al Man­agers Office was the first per­ma­nent build­ing in Ken­necott. Containing the McCarthy Road and the towns of McCarthy and Kennecott, this area is where history comes alive. There were businesses, shops, a train connection, and a lot of life. Then in 1938 the town was abruptly abandoned by its citizens, leaving most of their possessions behind. Gorgeous cave resemble a winter wonderland. In the bunkhous­es, two to four men shared a room. In 1987 it was rebuilt as Ken­necott Glac­i­er Lodge. See some of the most charismatic creatures that roam Alaska's rugged landscapes alongside an expert bear biologist. The Kennecott Mines and mill town are an abandoned copper mine operation and ghost town in Alaska that together, form a National Historic Landmark District. Elias National Park, Alaska. Permanent exhibit reminds visitors of the Exxon Valdez. Atlas Obscura and our trusted partners use technology such as cookies on our website to personalise ads, support social media features, and analyse our traffic. The next hurdle was to transport the copper ore from the mines to the coastal town of Cordova, where it would be shipped to Tacoma, Washington, by the Alaska Steamship Company for smelting. In the ghost town of Kennecott, Alaska, visitors have reported vanishing tombstones and hearing long-dead miners' voices. Today, Kennecott is a popular tourist attraction and the National Park Service is currently stabilizing and rehabilitating many of the mill and town buildings. The samples they collected from Bonanza Peak’s magnificent green cliffs of exposed copper revealed up to 70% of pure chalcocite. The mines closed their doors, the railroad shut down, and Kennecott became a ghost town with only a handful of residents remaining. Old Railway Bridge Leading to Kennicott Ghost Town, Kennicott Ghost Town, Hospital and Workers Quarters, Kennicott Ghost Town, Conveyor leading to the back of the Concentration Mill, Kennicott Ghost Town, Inside the Concentration Mill, Kennicott Ghost Town, View to the Concentration Mill, Bridge into Kennicott. At the mill, the ore was processed using advanced tech­nol­o­gy to extract the cop­per. If there is some­thing going on dur­ing your vis­it to town, don’t be shy; it’s worth your while to find out what’s hap­pen­ing. Tramways con­nect­ed the 5 Ken­necott mines to this mill, trans­port­ing up to 1,200 tons of ore every day. An auroral research program that superheats the ionosphere. Find how many days you need based on what you want to see and do in Alaska. Source: McCarthy Ken­ni­cott His­tor­i­cal Museum, The major­i­ty of the work­ers in the Ken­necott mines and mill were tem­po­rary. The settlement of Blackburn was a town of hopeful workers and businessmen. Located deep in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, what remains of the towns offers visitors a taste of Alaska’s historic mining era. No purchase necessary. In the summer of 1900, two prospectors, "Tarantula" Jack Smith and Clarence L. Warner, a group of prospectors associated with the McClellan party, spotted "a green patch far above them in an improbable location for a grass-green meadow." The corporation built the Copper … In the Kennicott mines it was not gold that people were digging for, like in so many other places, but copper. Steven Birch, a mining engineer, was hired to develop the Kennecott mining claims. This haunting place was booming until the 1940's when the price of copper dropped it became a ghost town. We'll match you with a local itinerary expert to help you plan your trip. On McCarthy Road continue to the end at Kennicott River. It took Heney and his crews 4 years of tireless labor in temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero to build the rail bed and bridges through the regions rough terrain. Brad Meiklejohn of the Conservation Fund helped the Park Service acquire the property in June, 1998. Kennecott was a booming copper mining site located in the Valdez-Cardova Census Area in Alaska, in the US. Profits were used to expand the corporation by investing in mines in Chile and the lower-48. The town and glacier are spelled Kennicott but the mines and company are spelled Kennecott.) Since the middle of the 1950s the place has been completely deserted. This abandoned copper mining camp is a National Historic Landmark District. Source: McCarthy Ken­ni­cott His­tor­i­cal Museum, Orig­i­nal­ly, Nation­al Creek Bunkhouse was used as a bunkhouse as one would assume. Source: McCarthy Ken­ni­cott His­tor­i­cal Museum, Ken­necot­t’s Ammo­nia Leach­ing Plant was built in 1916 and was used to process the low­er grade cop­per from the mines. In the 1960’s the Kennecott Copper Corporation sold its land, structures, and surface mining rights to Consolidated Wrangell Mining Co. Though not really close, the nearest town of McCarthy had, in 2010, 28 residents. Mill workers and miners lived in bunkhouses, worked 7 days a week and sent money home to their families. The town was a self-contained company town that between 1911 and 1938, according to the National Park Service.… Source: McCarthy Ken­ni­cott His­tor­i­cal Museum, Today, only ruins remain of Ken­necot­t’s sawmill and car­pen­try shop. See. Henry Chen has uploaded 2490 photos to Flickr. There are several eating establishments and a bar. That's certainly the case with Kennecott Mine and Ghost Town in Alaska. Photo Credit: Forest Service, Alaska, CC BY 2.0 Since the 1980s the mine became a tourist attraction as the ghost town of Alaska and many visitors came to Kennecott to see the abandoned buildings and the old mines. Ammo­nia cool­ing and a mechan­i­cal­ly cooled meat lock­er were used to keep meat and oth­er per­ish­ables fresh for the min­ing town. By 1938, all known ore deposits had been depleted. 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