Skagway Waterfront and unofficial Ship Registry

Introduction to Skagway

A great way to start your Ebike adventure in Skagway is a visit to the Skagway waterfront. Park your Ebike at the end of Congress Way, close to the start of the Railroad Dock. This dock alongside the cliff face was the original location of the "Moore Dock and Wharf" Take a moment to peruse the rock face and notice all paintings that memorialize the first visit of a ship to Skagway. The oldest is said to date back to 1908.

Skagway's Beginnings

This history of Skagway goes back 10,000 to 15,000 years. The original stewards of this land are the "Tlingit" people. These original costal inhabitants created a rich history in the area living a sustainable life intertwined with the land and its bounty. For thousands of years they thrived in the neighboring valleys often trading with other First Nation peoples living on the other side of the costal mountain range. Eventually, the trading routes they used to traverse the steep mountain passes would be coveted by gold prospectors as an entry point for access to the interior of Alaska, and the Yukon Territory.

After sporadic inroads made by American and Canadian prospectors a formal investigation into this trade route was made in 1886. One of the members of the survey team was an intrepid steamship captain called William Moore. Moore saw the potential in the land and realized that it's topography lent itself to there on day being a train route created over the pass.

As a dreamer an entrepreneur, Moore seized the opportunity to stay behind and carve out a homestead for himself. Naming the valley "Mooresville" he started modestly with a single cabin, a sawmill, and wharf. He had big dreams, and just needed thousands of people to pass through town on their way north to make them a reality. 10 long years later those dreams came true with the discovery of gold in the Klondike. In 1897 thousands of men and women flowed into the valley at the inception of the Klondike Gold Rush.