Alaska's cities

Petersburg, Alaska

Scandinavian-thinking town earns its way with fish

By Leon Unruh / Alaska.com

From its Tlingit origins as a fish camp, this Inside Passage town has grown into one of the busiest Alaska seafood centers.

It got its modern start when Peter Buschmann, a Norwegian immigrant, arrived in the 1890s and founded the Icy Strait Packing Co. cannery, a sawmill and a dock by 1900. He shipped halibut and salmon and ice from the handy LeConte Glacier -- the continent's southernmost tidewater glacier.

Shrimping is also important to the Mitkof Island town of 3,200. The state's first shrimp processor was founded in 1916 as Alaska Glacier Seafoods and now is part of Norquest Seafoods. More than a thousand people are employed by the processing industry. To keep the salmon engine running, the state runs the Crystal Lake Hatchery.

Many other Norwegians followed Buschmann to the area, and the townsite was populated mostly by Scandinavians, whose heritage is celebrated each May during the Little Norway Festival.

Petersburg -- a town so picturesque it was used as the prototypical fishing town in the movie "Ice Palace" -- is about midway between Juneau and Ketchikan, about 120 miles from each. It is a short hop from Wrangell.

Sport anglers have a selection of charter boats and lodges. The king salmon derby occurs over the Memorial Day weekend, and there is also good fishing for salmon and other species at Falls Creek, Blind Slough, Scow Bay and Petersburg Creek.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game prepares a weekly summary of fishing in Southeast Alaska. Information is also available about licenses.

Transportation

The Alaska Marine Highway System stops in Petersburg several times a week. The city is also served by Alaska Airlines and air taxis.

Attractions

Petersburg's landmark is the Sons of Norway Hall, a barn-looking structure built in 1912 on stilts. It sits on Nordic Drive southwest of downtown.