20 Facts About Ketchikan

Ketchikan is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska.

Ketchikan is located on Revillagigedo Island, so named in 1793 by Captain George Vancouver.

Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town, emptying into the Tongass Narrows a short distance southeast of its downtown.

Ketchikan Creek served as a summer fish camp for Tlingit natives for untold years before the town was established by Mike Martin in 1885.

Ketchikan was sent to the area by an Oregon canning company to assess prospects.

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Ketchikan became known as "Alaska's first city" due to its strategic position at the southern tip of the Inside Passage, connecting the Gulf of Alaska to Puget Sound.

Ketchikan has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles, found throughout the city and at four major locations: Saxman Totem Park, Totem Bight State Park, Potlatch Park, and the Totem Heritage Center.

Ketchikan has a mild maritime or oceanic climate, characterized by heavy cloud cover and high humidity through much of the year and abundant rainfall throughout the year, earning it the nickname of the "Rain Capital of Alaska".

Ketchikan is home to four radio stations: KTKN-AM 930, KGTW-FM 106.

Ketchikan has one over-the-air broadcast television station, KUBD, Channel 13 digital and 4 visual, a CBS network affiliate.

City of Ketchikan operates under a council-manager form of government.

Ketchikan has long loomed heavy in Alaska's political landscape, though the increasing population in Southcentral Alaska has led to a diminishment of its influence since the 1980s.

Ketchikan is represented in the Alaska Senate by Bert Stedman, who lives in Sitka, and in the Alaska House of Representatives by independent Dan Ortiz, a former schoolteacher who taught at Ketchikan High School.

In territorial days, Norman Ray "Doc" Walker, a Canadian-born pharmacist practicing in Ketchikan, was arguably the first career member of the Alaska Legislature.

Major and first port of entry into Alaska, Ketchikan's economy has been based on fishing industries, canneries in particular, tourism, government, and forestry.

Ketchikan's economy is currently based upon government services, tourism and commercial fishing.

Ketchikan receives a large number of tourists, both by air and sea, due to its popularity as a cruise ship stop.

Ketchikan serves as both an air and marine transportation hub for southern Southeast Alaska.

Ketchikan is a major port along the Alaska Marine Highway System's Inside Passage route.

Several movies have been shot in Ketchikan, including The Silver Horde, Spawn of the North, Timber Tramps and Cry Vengeance, plus episodes of the television programs The Love Boat and Baywatch.