A Good Place to Fish

The History and Demographics of Petersburg, Alaska

Tlingit hunters and fishermen used the area surrounding Petersburg at least 2,000 years ago, and at low tide you can walk among the remains of their ancient fish traps and petroglyphs near town. Alaska Natives still comprise over 10% of the population. A federally recognized tribe is located in the community. A pair of totem poles, at the corner of Haugen and Nordic Drive, tell the story of the Tlingit ancestors traveling down the Stikine River to settle and live here.

In 1890, Norwegian pioneer Peter Buschmann arrived, and seeing that the clear, clean ice from LeConte Glacier could be used to pack fish, built the Icy Strait Packing Company cannery, a sawmill, and a dock . His family's homesteads grew into Petersburg, populated largely by people of Scandinavian origin. By 1920, 600 people lived in Petersburg year-round. During this time, fresh salmon and halibut were packed in glacier ice for shipment. Alaska's first shrimp processor, Alaska Glacier Seafoods, was founded in 1916. A cold storage plant was built in 1926. Petersburg's first cannery has operated continuously since, and is now known as Petersburg Fisheries, a subsidiary of Icicle Seafoods, Inc.. Petersburg has developed into one of Alaska's major fishing communities.

The busy, bustling town of Petersburg was incorporated in 1910. The population hasn't grown much in past years--about 3100 live here year-round, with seasonal variation due to summertime cannery workers, deckhands and fishermen. Nearly 40,000 tourists visit Petersburg each year.

The commercial fishing industry is the community's largest employer, with others in retail business, city, state and federal agencies, visitor industry, and logging.

Aspects of both Norwegian and Tlingit cultures still figure prominently in community activities, and fishing remains a staple of the local economy.