Page 10 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book
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Alaska
Juneau, the capital city of Alaska
Named 1881 (Juneau City) Incorporated 1900 Elevation 56 ft (17 m) Population 32,167
The City of Juneau is located on the Gastineau Channel in the Alaskan panhandle. Officially, it is the second largest city in the United States by area, (3,255 square miles (8,430 km2)), larger by area than both Rhode Island and Delaware.
The city was originally called Rockwell and then Harrisburg (after Juneau’s co-prospector, Richard Harris). In 1881, the miners met and renamed the town Juneau, after Joe Juneau.
Juneau lies nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and near to Douglas Island. Juneau’s daily population can increase by a fifth between May and September, as a result of visiting cruise ships.
There are no roads connecting Juneau to the rest of Alaska or to the rest of North America. Cars have to come and go by ferry. This is because Juneau occupies an area of flattish land on the sides of
what is otherwise a flooded glaciated valley, or fjord, whose sides plunge directly into the florid waters.
Juneau 1897.
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