Everything OddWay knows about. Narrow it down by what you're after, or where you're going.
Real events too strange to have made the textbook.
Skagway, AK
The grave of con man Jefferson 'Soapy' Smith stands in the Gold Rush Cemetery after his death in a waterfront gunfight in 1898. The marker is a specific pilgrimage point within the larger cemetery and should be visited respectfully.
Fairbanks, AK
This enormous wooden sternwheeler once carried passengers and freight on Alaska's river system and now rests permanently at Pioneer Park. It is one of the last surviving large wooden boats of its kind and reads almost like a landlocked shipwreck.
Sitka, AK
The Orthodox cathedral in the center of Sitka is a landmark of the Russian-American era and houses historic icons and church objects. The current building is a reconstruction after the original burned in 1966, so visitors should treat it as an active place of worship rather than a museum-only attraction.
Kenai, AK
The 1906 chapel honors early Orthodox missionaries and stands near the site of Kenai's first church and Russian trading post. Local history also credits the priests it commemorates with helping bring smallpox vaccination to Dena'ina communities.
Juneau, AK
This small octagonal Orthodox church was built in the 1890s by local Tlingit Orthodox Christians. Its onion dome and interior icons create an unexpected Russian-influenced landmark amid downtown Juneau's later American-era buildings.
Ketchikan, AK
A forest trail leads through restored and recreated clan houses and monumental poles on the Tongass Narrows. The state historic park was developed from a New Deal-era effort to preserve and teach traditional Native carving skills.
Ketchikan, AK
This city-run center preserves nineteenth-century Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian poles and carved objects recovered from abandoned village sites. The collection gives travelers a close, museum-based look at original Northwest Coast carving rather than modern replicas alone.
Ninilchik, AK
The small Orthodox church and hillside cemetery overlook Cook Inlet from the old village of Ninilchik. Onion domes, wooden architecture and generations of graves preserve the community's Russian and Alaska Native heritage.
Douglas, AK
Trails cross the remains of the once-enormous Treadwell gold-mining complex, including foundations, machinery and the flooded glory-hole area. The site tells the story of an industrial town that largely vanished after mine flooding and collapse in the early twentieth century.
Juneau, AK
The former home of judge and Alaska political figure James Wickersham preserves period rooms and material from territorial-era Juneau. The house connects law, politics, mountaineering and early twentieth-century Alaska inside an unusually intact historic residence.
