Ketchikan, Alaska
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Ketchikan Kichx̱áan |
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![View from a cruise ship of downtown Ketchikan in May 2002. In the foreground is the intersection of Dock and Front streets. The Tongass Trading Company, which anchors the intersection, has operated in Ketchikan since 1898.[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Downtown_Ketchikan_Alaska.jpg)
View from a cruise ship of downtown Ketchikan in May 2002. In the foreground is the intersection of Dock and Front streets. The Tongass Trading Company, which anchors the intersection, has operated in Ketchikan since 1898.
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| Nickname(s): Salmon Capital of the World, Rain Capital of Alaska, Alaska's First City | ||
 Ketchikan
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| Coordinates: 55°21′00″N 131°40′24″W / 55.35000°N 131.67333°WCoordinates: 55°21′00″N 131°40′24″W / 55.35000°N 131.67333°W | ||
| Country |
 United States
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| State |
 Alaska
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| Borough | Ketchikan Gateway | |
| Incorporated | August 25, 1900 | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Lew Williams III | |
| • Governing body | City Council | |
| • State senator | Bert Stedman (R) | |
| • State rep. | Dan Ortiz (I) | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 15.3 km2 (5.9 sq mi) | |
| • Land | 11.3 km2 (4.4 sq mi) | |
| • Water | 4.0 km2 (1.5 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 0 m (0 ft) | |
| Population (2010) | ||
| • Total | 8,050 (ranked 5th) | |
| • Density | 714.1/km2 (1,850/sq mi) | |
| • City and Borough | 13,477 | |
| • City and Borough Estimate (2014) | 13,787 | |
| Time zone | AKST (UTC-9) | |
| • Summer (DST) | AKDT (UTC-8) | |
| ZIP codes | 99901, 99950 | |
| Area code | 907 | |
| FIPS code | 02-38970 | |
| GNIS feature ID | 1423039, 2419408 | |
| Website | www |
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Ketchikan (/ˈkɛtʃᵻkæn/, KETCH-ih-kan) (Tlingit: Kichx̱áan) is a city in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost city in Alaska. With a population at the 2010 census of 8,050, it is the fifth-most populous city in the state, and tenth-most populous community when census-designated places are included. The surrounding borough, encompassing suburbs both north and south of the city along the Tongass Highway (most of which are commonly regarded as a part of Ketchikan, albeit not a part of the city itself), plus small rural settlements accessible mostly by water, registered a population of 13,477 in that same census. Estimates put the 2014 population at 13,787 people. Incorporated on August 25, 1900, Ketchikan is the earliest extant incorporated city in Alaska, because consolidation or unification elsewhere in Alaska resulted in dissolution of those communities' city governments. 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" comes from the Tlingit name for the creek, Kitschk-hin, the meaning of which is unclear. It may mean "the river belonging to Kitschk"; other accounts claim it means "Thundering Wings of an Eagle". In modern Tlingit this name is rendered as Kichx̱áan. Ketchikan Creek served as a summer fish camp for Tlingit natives for untold years before the town was established by Mike Martin in 1885. The area near the mouth of Ketchikan Creek later earned Ketchikan a measure of infamy during the first half of the 20th century for a red-light district known as Creek Street, with brothels aligned on either side of the creek. According to the U.S. Postal Service, one of Ketchikan's two zip codes, 99950, is the highest-numbered in the United States.
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