I love ghost towns. There is something about the odor of decaying wood, rusty tools, and the damp musty scents of Mother Nature creeping in and reclaiming a space that man once thought he had conquered. Kennicott ghost town in Alaska is my favorite because it’s grand in scope, (the mill building is 14 stories high), and it is remote.
We faced a few obstacles getting there: Caiya ripped off a toe nail chasing a rabbit on the drive up. The road into Kennicott starts in the middle of nowhere, the pavement ends, and the road continues even further into nowhere on dirt thrown on top of old railroad tracks into the heart of the monstrous Wrangell / St. Elias range. Several forest fires raged nearby. The weather decided to rain, because we were camping. I forgot the Cola. And, there was plenty of fresh bear scat on the trail to our camp spot overlooking the massive Root Glacier. (We know how scared Kristen is of running into a bear.)
The beauty of this place is that one can get hit with obstacle after obstacle, but the magic of old Kennicott is turned up so loud that nothing can come close to drowning it out. This magic held true for the first settlers of the town as it does today.
The buildings in Kennicott seem to be falling apart rapidly. This place won’t be around forever.
See it while you can.
Below, is a snippet on the history of Kennicott, AK, from the state park website…
“Few stories in the history of commerce can compare: In the summer of 1900, two prospectors exploring deep in the wilderness see magnificent green cliffs perched high on a mountainside. Climbing closer, they stumble upon the richest copper vein ever found.
“Few stories in the history of commerce can compare: In the summer of 1900, two prospectors exploring deep in the wilderness see magnificent green cliffs perched high on a mountainside. Climbing closer, they stumble upon the richest copper vein ever found.
“It doesn't take long for two of America's wealthiest families, the Morgans and Guggenheims, to sniff out the wealth potential. They buy the rights and build 196 miles of private railroad to get the copper out. When the mine opens in 1911, they employ 600 miners and build a wilderness city, complete with a hospital, general store, schoolhouse, baseball field, skating rink, tennis court, recreation hall, and dairy.
“The mine buzzes with activity for 37 years, when the Depression hits and the price of copper crashes. One November day in 1938, the last trainload of miners chugs away for good, leaving the Kennicott mine standing quietly in the wilderness. Over the next half-century, more and more visitors find their way to the ghost town where buildings still stand, complete with the miners' work papers and tools. But it wasn't until 1998 that the National Park Service purchased the property and made it officially open for visitors.”
