Douglas Island was originally a border of the
Auke people’s and
Taku people’s territory. It was not usually used for year-round settlement, but rather as a place to spend the summer, or at times a place for battles. Some historical reports indicate an early settler to the area may be credited for the naming of Douglas Island. In 1880 gold was discovered in
Juneau, Alaska, across the narrow
Gastineau Channel, drawing in all kinds of people looking to strike it rich. In 1881 two towns sprouted up on Douglas Island:
Treadwell and Douglas. Treadwell was the community for the miners, with its own entertainment, pool, and bar. Douglas, too, had businesses popping up and soon had its own school and post office. A railroad and boardwalk connected the two towns. At this time the Treadwell power plant was large enough to power the entire Treadwell area, Douglas, and Juneau. The power plant continued to serve the
Alaska-Juneau Gold Mine until the mine was shut down in 1944 by the
War Department as non-essential to the war effort. 1887, Douglas Island Friends Mission School established to forcefully assimilate Indigenous Alaska Native peoples into Western European culture. 1902, Douglas Island Friends Mission School Closed. This site later became a dairy farm In 1902, the city of Douglas was incorporated. The town sustained significant damage on March 9, 1911, when a fire started in the Douglas Grill. It took the Douglas, Treadwell, and Juneau fire departments working together to stop the entire town from being destroyed. The towns of Douglas and Treadwell underwent changes after the 1917 cave-in of the
Treadwell mine. While one section still operated until 1926, Treadwell shrank and Douglas became the town of Douglas Island. Douglas continued to have its own dairy (Douglas Dairy, owned by Joe Kendler) until 1923 when it moved across the channel. At this time, there was a regular ferry between the towns of Juneau and Douglas. On October 10, 1927, another great fire ripped through Downtown Douglas once again, demolishing part of the abandoned Treadwell Mine, the Downtown commercial district and the Native Village. In 1935, the
Douglas Bridge was opened and made transportation between the island and Juneau simpler. On February 23, 1937, the city of Douglas again experienced a devastating fire, with 600 of the 700 residents losing their homes. However, Douglas rebuilt and restarted. On March 8, 1955, the city voted to combine schools with the city of Juneau, resulting in the construction of
Juneau-Douglas High School, which continues to serve the area's students. May 1962, Douglas City Council burned the Tlingit Indian Village of Douglas, Anax̱ Ya Andagan Yé (Where Sunlight Touches First). In a controversial moment in 1970, voters in the cities of Douglas and Juneau, and of the surrounding Greater Juneau
Borough, elected to unify their respective governments, forming the present-day
City and Borough of Juneau. ==Demographics==