History Afloat

Voices from the Working Waterfront

The people who make up the working waterfront play a vital role in our local culture, economy, and our region's rich maritime heritage. To capture their stories, Ketchikan Museu...  View Exhibit Page

2024 Featured Native Arts Studies Program Instructors and Students

New pathways connect instructors and students to perpetuate and strengthen the artistic traditions of their ancestors for future generations.

This exhibit highlights the work of instructors and students in our Native Arts Studies Program...  View Exhibit Page

On the Edge

Stories from Ketchikan's Working Waterfront

On the Edge explores contemporary work along Ketchikan's waterfront to recognize and celebrate the importance of our maritime trades and cultural practices and the people who work in them...  View Exhibit Page

2023 Featured Native Arts Studies Program Instructors and Students

New pathways connect instructors and students to perpetuate and strengthen the artistic traditions of their ancestors for future generations

This exhibit highlights the work of instructors and students in our Native Arts Studies Program...  View Exhibit Page

Cruisin' the Fossil Coastline

Travel to the prehistoric past with Cruisin' the Fossil Coastline at the Tongass Historical Museum. Be prepared to look at the world in a whole new way in this "epoch" exhibit on Alaska fossils. Cruisin' t...  View Exhibit Page

Taking Flight

Ketchikan's Commercial Aviation History

Aviation has been a way of life in Ketchikan for 100 years. In celebration of this historic milestone Baranof Fishing Excursions partnered with local aviation photojournal...  View Exhibit Page

History Afloat

Ketchikan's Historic Wooden Boats

During the heyday of fishing in Ketchikan, wooden boats were a common sight in our waters. Nowadays with more reliable materials like aluminum and fiberglass, wooden...  View Exhibit Page

2022 Featured Native Arts Studies Program Instructors and Students

New pathways connect instructors and students to perpetuate the artistic traditions of their ancestors for future generations.

The Center's Native Arts Studies Program has offered classes in Northwest Coast arts including....  View Exhibit Page

Kayhi Williwaw 1950-2020

The Ketchikan Public Library in partnership with the Ketchikan High School digitized yearbooks from 1950 to 2020. Links to each edition are in chronological order for you to explore...  View Exhibit Page

Sustaining Community

How is community created? How is it sustained?

The act of sustaining a community takes dedication over years and even generations, often without seeing the full impact of your work.<...  View Exhibit Page

Welcome to the Totem Heritage Center

The Totem Heritage Center preserves and perpetuates the living artistic traditions of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian peoples that gave rise to the original totem poles on display and provides the opportunity to discover, learn and practice Native arts to inspire cultural understanding...  View Exhibit Page

2020 Featured Native Arts Studies Program Instructors and Students

New pathways connect instructors and students to perpetuate artistic traditions for future generations.

Ketchikan weavers have played a...  View Exhibit Page

Into the Wind

Aviation as Southeast Alaska's Lifeline

Aviation is an integral part of life in Southeast Alaska.

Nestled into the mountains of Revillagigedo Island, Ketchikan is surrounded by multiple waterways as pa...  View Exhibit Page

Into the Wind Videos

Aviation is our way of life. For nearly a century, flight has been essential to life in Ketchikan and still remains a vital part of life in Southeast Alaska.

Illustrated here, through photography and videos,...  View Exhibit Page

Ketchikan is...

Ketchikan is... a story of resilience, independence, and the resourcefulness to not only to survive, but to thrive.

It all started with the creek. Kichxáan (Ketchikan) began as a Tlingit summ...  View Exhibit Page

Ketchikan is...

Capturing Time Through the Lens

Ketchikan has a long history of talented photographers who have created a photographic record of our city. These images tell a story across time of our enduring lifestyle and co...  View Exhibit Page

Artifact of the Month

Highlights from the Ketchikan Museums collections of objects, archives, photographs, library, and research files

2019 Featured Native Arts Studies Program Instructors and Students

The Totem Heritage Center serves as a cultural center for the artistic traditions of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people. The Center's Native Ar...  View Exhibit Page

Back to the Fifties

More Ketchikan Photos by Paulu Saari

In Ketchikan, the 1950s were years of promise, prosperity, growth, and change. The community's economy went through a major shift as the pulp mill came on line. Popul...  View Exhibit Page

BOOM TOWN

Ketchikan in the 1950s

Ketchikan, the Fifties were years of promise, prosperity, growth, and change. The community's economy went through a major shift as the pulp mill came on line. Population grew by more than twe...  View Exhibit Page

Then & Now

A community photography exhibit connecting Ketchikan's past to the present through the recreation of historic photos

First in Fish

Ketchikan's Commercial Fishing Traditions: A Community Slideshow