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The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel on the Alexander Archipelago in the U.S. state of Alaska, and is the state capital. The municipality unified in 1970 when the City of Juneau merged with the City of Douglas and the surrounding borough to form the current home rule municipality. The area of Juneau is larger than that of Rhode Island, Delaware, or Connecticut, and almost as large as Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Juneau is nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and across the channel from Douglas Island. As of the 2000 census, the City and Borough had a population of 30,711. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2005 population estimate for the City and Borough was 30,987*. Juneau was named after gold prospector Joe Juneau. The Tlingit name of the town is Dzántik'i Héeni "river where the flounders gather", and Auke Bay just north of Juneau proper is called Aak'w "little lake" in Tlingit. The Taku River just south of Juneau was named after the cold t'aakh wind that blows down from the mountains, and is the source of some of Juneau's more unpleasant weather.
Geography and climate Juneau is located at (58.351422, -134.511579). According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 8,430.4 km² (3,255.0 mi²). 7,036.1 km² (2,716.7 mi²) of it is land and 1,394.3 km² (538.3 mi²) of it (16.54%) is water. Adjacent boroughs and census areas Also shares an eastern border with British Columbia, Canada. History From before European settlement in the Americas, the Gastineau Channel was a favorite fishing ground for local Tlingit Indians, known then as the Auke and Taku tribes, who had inhabited the area for thousands of years. The native cultures are rich with artistic traditions including carving, weaving, orating, singing and dancing, and Juneau has become a major social center for the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian of Southeast Alaska. In 1880, Sitka mining engineer George Pilz offered a reward to any local chief who could lead him to gold-bearing ore. Chief Kowee arrived with some ore and prospectors were sent to investigate. On their first trip, to Gold Creek, they found little of interest. However, at Chief Kowee's urging Pilz sent Joe Juneau and Richard Harris back to the Gastineau Channel, directing them to Snow Slide Gulch (the head of Gold Creek) where they found nuggets "as large as peas and beans," in Harris' words. On October 18, 1880, the two men marked a 160-acre (0.6 km²) town site where soon a mining camp appeared. Within a year, the camp became a small town, the first to be founded after Alaska's purchase by the United States. The town was originally called Harrisburg, after Richard Harris; some time later, its name was changed to Rockwell. In 1881, the miners met and renamed the town Juneau, after Joe Juneau. In 1906, after the diminution of the whaling and fur trade, Sitka, the original capital of Alaska, declined in importance and the seat of government was moved to Juneau. In 1954, a measure was passed to move the state's capital north in order to locate it closer to the state's population center. A provision that required the new capital to be located at least 30 miles from the cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks, to prevent them from having undue influence over the rest of the state, stalled the relocation process to the point that in the end Juneau remained the capital. In the 1970s, serious plans were made to move the capital to a site near Willow, a town on the Parks Highway about 70 miles north of Anchorage. However, these plans never went very far. Several ballot initiatives have been held on the issue of moving the capital *. The first such proposal was on the ballot of the state's first general election ballot: the voters chose not to move the capital from Juneau to the Cook Inlet-Railbelt area. A 1974 referendum actually passed, which led to the choice of the Willow site. This project died after the electorate voted against funding it (at a cost of billions of dollars) in 1978 and 1982. However, the Willow plan was partially revived in 2002 with a proposal to move the legislative branch to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough (which includes Willow): this initiative lost by a 2-1 margin. Once Alaska was granted statehood in 1959, Juneau grew with the growth of state government. Growth accelerated remarkably after the construction of the Alaska Pipeline in 1977, state budget flush with oil revenues; Juneau expanded predictably with both increased government and tourism jobs. That growth slowed considerably in the 1990s • and, due to the high cost and low availability of buildable acreage, the state demographer expects the borough to grow very slowly • over the next twenty years. Juneau is larger in area than the State of Delaware and was, for many years, the country's largest city. It no longer holds the record, however, having been surpassed by the incorporation of Sitka in 2000. Juneau continues to be the only US state capital located on an international border: it is bordered on the east by Canada. Transportation The Alaska Legislature meets in the Alaska State Capitol (formerly the Territorial Building) in Juneau, which is the only mainland state capital in the US which cannot be accessed by road. Located in the Alaska Panhandle, it is not easily accessible from most of the rest of the state. The only way to reach Juneau is via sea or air; (cars and trucks being transported by barge or ferry). Currently the State of Alaska is considering a number of ways to improve transportation to and from Juneau, with a connecting road to Skagway being a main alternative. Local opinion on the matter is decidedly mixed, with some seeing the road as a needed link between Juneau and the rest of Alaska, and others having concerns about the environmental, social, and economic impacts a road would have. On August 10, 2005, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities issued a press release announcing that the preferred addition to air travel and state ferries was a partial road and fast ferry combination — East Lynn Canal Highway to the Katzehin River with shuttles to Haines and Skagway. * There are several glaciers near hiking trails (including the Mendenhall Glacier), one bridge to Douglas Island, and five main road termini. The Mount Roberts Tramway is an aerial tramway constructed with its base terminal on the cruise ship docks and its upper terminal on the southwestern ridge of Mount Roberts. Scheduled airline service is provided at Juneau International Airport. Seaplanes also offer regular service to most other Southeast Alaska communities, and Juneau is a central port for the Alaska Marine Highway and the port of registry for some of its ships. Juneau is a major cruise ship destination with approximately 900,000 visitors arriving by cruise ship each summer. Districts Two districts have been defined by the Assembly of the City and Borough of Juneau: Demographics As of the 2000 census of 2000, there were 30,700 people, 11,500 households, and 7,600 families residing in the Juneau. The population density was 4.4/km² (11.3/mi²). There were 12,300 housing units at an average density of 1.7/km² (4.5/mi²). By race Juneau was 75% white, 11% Native American, 5% Asian, 0.8% black, 0.4% Pacific Islander, and 3% Hispanic or Latino of any race. One percent belonged to other races, and 7% to two or more races. There were 11,500 households out of which 37% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51% were married couples living together, 11% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34% were non-families. 24% of all households were made up of individuals and 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.6 and the average family size was 3.1. In the borough, the population was spread out with 27% under the age of 18, 8% from 18 to 24, 33% from 25 to 44, 26% from 45 to 64, and 6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 102 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $62,000, and the median income for a family was $70,300. Males had a median income of $46,700 versus $33,200 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $26,700. 6% of the population and 4% of families were below the poverty line. 7% of those under the age of 18 and 4% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. Arts Juneau is home to Perseverance Theatre, Alaska's only professional theater. Juneau hosts the annual Alaska Folk Festival and Juneau Jazz & Classics music festivals, and the local Juneau Symphony performs regularly. Downtown Juneau boasts dozens of art galleries, which participate in the monthly First Friday Gallery Walk. The Juneau Lyric Opera and Opera to Go are Juneau's two opera companies. JLO produces fully-staged operas in English and Italian, and sponsors two annual choral workshop festivals, as well as the touring group the 3 Tenors from Juneau. Famous Juneau artists include violinists Linda and Paul Rosenthal, Sopranos Kathleen Wayne and Joyce Parry Moore, Bass John d'Armand, Baritones Philippe Damerval and David Miller, Tenors Jay Query, Brett Crawford and Dan Wayne, indie rocker Rory Merritt Stitt, folk musician and renaissance man Buddy Tabor, playwright Bo and painters David Woodie, Barbara Craver, and Rie Muñoz. Media Juneau's only daily newspaper is the Juneau Empire; however, the regional weekly newspaper Capital City Weekly is also based out of Juneau. Juneau is also served by television and radio. Juneau's major television affiliates are KTOO (PBS), KATH-LP (NBC/UPN) and KJUD (ABC)-(KIMO retransmission). Leading radio stations include AM Stations KJNO 630 and KINY 800. FM Stations include public radio station KTOO 104.3, the adult contemporary franchises KFMG "Magic" 100.7 and KSRJ "Star" 102.7, country music station KTKU 105.1 ("Taku 105"), KSUP 106.3, and the freeform LPFM station KBJZ 94.1. In addition, the offices of CoastAlaska, a regional public radio station consortium, are located in Juneau. Public schools The Juneau public school system is managed by the Juneau School District and includes some of the following schools: Colleges and universities Trivia See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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