Kennecott, Alaska

Kennecott, Alaska, grew as the operations center for five extraordinarily rich copper mines near the Kennicott Glacier and became one of the state’s most important industrial sites. After a 1900 discovery led to the Bonanza claim, Stephen Birch assembled financial backing to develop the mines, a railway to Cordova, and steamship connections. Ore moved by aerial tramway to a 14-story mill, where lower-grade material was concentrated before shipment. From 1909 to 1938, the mines produced more than 4.6 million tons of ore and generated immense revenues, but the richest deposits were exhausted by the 1930s. Abandoned after 1938, Kennecott survived largely intact and was later preserved within Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

McCarthy, Alaska · United States