Fort William H. Seward

Fort Seward was the first permanent military base in Alaska. Completed in 1904 on 100 acres of land donated by the Presbyterian Church, it remained active until 1944. It was named for William H. Seward, the U.S. Secretary of State who arranged the purchase of Alaska from Russia. The fort was renamed Chilkoot Barracks in the 1920s to avoid confusion with Seward, Alaska. From 1918 to 1921, the long white quartermaster supply building farther up the hill distributed furnishings and basic supplies, with a cold storage room in the basement. In the 1960s, a large walk-in cooler there served as a temporary morgue when the Haines facility closed. In 1930, a small red building up from the dock housed an underwater communication cable linking Haines to the continental U.S., and messages were commonly sent in Morse code. In July 1920, the Port of Chilkoot dock was the original Army dock, with a pullout for mule wagons to pass each other midway down the right side, and mules played an important role both in the fort's construction and as a mode of transportation.

Haines, Alaska · United States