Juneau, Alaska Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau ( ; Tlingit: ), commonly known as Juneau, is the capital city of Alaska. It is a unified municipality on Gastineau Channel in the Alaskan panhandle, and it is the second largest city in the United States by area. Juneau has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of what was the District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. The municipality unified on July 1, 1970, when the city of Juneau merged with the city of Douglas and the surrounding Greater
Juneau mining district Inlet to Holkam Bay. French Canadian prospector Pierre Erussard, known as "French Pete," found gold on Douglas Island, across Gastineau Channel from Juneau. A consortium led by John Treadwell, a carpenter from California, purchased the claims and adjoining gold-bearing land. The resulting mine/mill complex produced more than 3 million troy ounces (93 tonnes) of gold before closing in 1922. The underground Kensington hardrock mine is approximately north of Juneau. The mine site is within the City and Borough of Juneau and the Tongass National Forest. Development and ore production occurred at the Kensington mine site from 1897 through 1938. The