Copper Center Museums & Cultural Centers

Get a taste of ear­ly 19^th-cen­tu­ry Alas­ka in Cop­per Cen­ter. This small com­mu­ni­ty locat­ed at the con­flu­ence of the Kluti­na and Cop­per Rivers, was estab­lished in 1898 as a camp for prospect­ing gold min­ers. After the Richard­son High­way route opened in 1900, road­hous­es sprung up every 15 to 20 miles, pro­vid­ing ser­vices for trav­el­ers between Valdez and Fair­banks. You could get meals, lodg­ing, mail ser­vice, med­ical help, hay for your horse, gasoline…  ...more

The muse­ums are housed in his­tor­i­cal cab­ins at the Cop­per Cen­ter Lodge. They con­tain ear­ly Russ­ian reli­gious arti­cles, Athabas­can bas­kets, tele­graph equip­ment, min­er­al dis­plays, cop­per and gold min­ing mem­o­ra­bil­ia and trap­ping arti­cles from the ear­ly-day Cop­per Val­ley. A short walk takes you to the Stam­ped­ers Cemetery.

Housed in rus­tic log cab­ins, the muse­um offers the vis­i­tor a unique look at the var­ied past of the Cop­per Riv­er Val­ley area. Exhibits include ear­ly min­ing of gold and cop­per, and Russ­ian artifacts.