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Circle City, Alaska

"The Last Frontier"

The Village

Circle is located at the eastern end of the Steese Highway , in Northeastern Alaska, on the south bank of the Yukon River at the edge of the Yukon Flats, 160 miles northeast of Fairbanks. The area encompasses 5 sq. miles of land and 1 sq. mile of water. Circle has a continental subarctic climate, characterized by seasonal extremes in temperature. Winters are long and harsh, summers warm and short. Summer temperatures range from 65 to 72, winter temperatures can range from -71 to 0. Rainfall averages 6.5 inches, snowfall is 43.4 inches. The Yukon is ice-free from mid-June through mid-October. Tourists and recreational enthusiasts come through seasonally. (Steese Highway picture courtesy of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner).

History

With the discovery of gold in nearby Preacher Creek, Circle (also known as Circle City) was established in 1893 as a supply point for goods shipped up the Yukon River and then overland to the gold mining camps.Early miners believed the town was located on the Arctic Circle, and named it Circle. By 1896, before the Klondike gold rush, Circle was the largest mining town on the Yukon, earning the nickname "The biggest log cabin city in the world", with a population of 700. It boasted an Alaska Commercial Company store, eight or ten dance halls, an opera house, a well-stocked library, 28 saloons, a school, a hospital, and an Episcopal Church.  Log cabins stretched out for nearly a mile and a half along the river front.  It had its own newspaper, the Yukon Press, and a number of residential U.S. government officials, including a commissioner, marshal, customs inspector, tax collector and postmaster. Captain Wilds P Richardson, 8th Infantry, commanded all military forces in Alaska and was stationed in Circle along with 80 men and several officers.   Jack McQuestron bought his Trading Post and several warehouses in 1897.  He supplied miners and trappers in the area with all they needed, including food, tools and clothing. 

Circle was virtually emptied after gold discoveries in the Klondike and Nome near the end of the 19th century. A few hearty miners stayed on in the Birch Creek area, and Circle became a small, stable community that supplied miners in the nearby Mastodon, Mammoth, Deadwood and Circle Creeks. Most of the main part of town became a family owned farm that produced its own vegetables, meat, milk, cheese and eggs.  Flour, sugar, salt and other staples came by barge, once in the summer.  The family farmhouse still stands today, in front of the trading post and is commonly known as the "Rasmussen House", as it was built in 1909 by Nels Rasmussen.  The floods of the 30's and 40's destroyed the opera house where Alexander Pantanges had performed.  McQuestron's store, warehouses, saloons, the hospital and the church were also destroyed by heavy snowfall or burned for firewood. 

Today, most of the residents are Gwitch'in Indians.  Circle has electricity, telephones, a post office, school, two stores, a cafe, bar, and 2 churches.  There is also a campground and boat ramp for visitors.  The Steese Highway offers nearly year-round access to Circle; during the winter months the road conditions can make travel to Circle by road difficult.   Circle has experienced its share of flooding over the years.  Flood levels can be seen on a marker located behind the "Welcome to Circle City" sign above.   Pictures of the last two floods hang in the Yukon Trading Post.  Mining activity continues in Circle today.

The People

Tourism

Tales of Circle

Roal Amundsen, the famous Arctic explorer, stopped in Circle to send a message to the world that he had completed his polar expedition.

Once it was so cold by the official thermometer that it took two years to read!  Weather reports were so unbelievable that the thermometers were sent outside to be tested for accuracy, but were proved to be correct.  It took two years for the journey and the testing.

Mrs. Wells came to town with a sheet-iron stove and some pans.  She could bake two loaves of bread at a timeand by working 14 hours a day, she could turn out 24 loaves at $41.00 apiece!  During her idle time, she took in washing, ironing, and mending.  Buttons were sewed for 25 cents each and patches went for 50 cents.  If she wasn't busy at the time she baked cakes and biscuits at $1.50/lb.  Mince pies were $5.00 apiece.  Did she become rich, retire, or pass away?  No one knows for sure.

Not too long ago...It cost $1.00 to mail a letter anywhere.  City lots were $2,000.00 each.  A dance with a dance hall girl cost $1.00.  Minors wages were $10-12 per day.

Dogs were valuable, numerous and hungry.  One old prospector told of a dog who escaped his harness one night and ate a pair of large gauntlet gloves, all the leather off an old snow shoe, a whip and part of the handle, a long leather strap and the long leather bindings of a gun case, and part of its harness!  No damage was done to the dog's digestive system.

Contacts

Circle Village Council
P.O. Box 89
Circle, AK 99733

Circle City PHOTO Site (Online - Click HERE)

Yukon Trading Post/Hotel Information
(907) 773-1217

HC Company Store
(907) 773-1222

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