Creek Street, Ketchikan
Creek Street is a boardwalk of houses on pilings over Ketchikan Creek, a short walk from the downtown berths. For half a century it was the town's red-light district. Now it is where you watch salmon climb in summer, and the first stop on a Ketchikan walking tour of town.
A boardwalk on pilings
The houses stand on wooden pilings driven into the creek bed and the bank, joined by a plank boardwalk. The creek runs under and beside them to the sea. The old houses now hold shops and a museum, with the salmon passing below.
You walk the street end to end in a few minutes. Take your time on the boardwalk: the photographs are of the houses leaning over the water, and of the creek itself.
1903–1954: the red-light years
In 1903 a city ordinance moved the brothels of Ketchikan to the east side of the creek. The houses built there on pilings, reached by the boardwalk, became Creek Street. The district ran for about half a century, until the 1950s.
The guides tell the story in one line: Creek Street is where both men and salmon went upstream to spawn. Its history is part of the timeline on Ketchikan facts.
Dolly's House
Dolly Arthur lived at 24 Creek Street until her death in 1975, long after the district had closed. Her house is now a museum of the street's red-light years. It is the one house on the street that shows you what the others once were.
Salmon in Ketchikan Creek
Ketchikan Creek fills with spawning salmon each July and August. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game names the planks of Creek Street as a good spot to watch them. From the bridges over the creek you look down on the fish struggling upstream.
Further up, a fish ladder beside the falls helps the salmon past the rapids, and the road tours stop there in season. Beyond it the creek passes the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery, which runs daily tours in summer.
See Creek Street with a guide and a camera
The photo safari spends 35 minutes on the boardwalk and 20 at the Harris Street Bridge, with tips for phones as much as cameras.
Creek Street from the ship
If your ship is at Berths 1 to 4 on Front Street, you walk to Creek Street through downtown. From Ward Cove, ride the free shuttle to Berth 4, about 20 minutes, and walk from there. Go first thing, or at the end of your day on the way back to the ship. Where each ship docks is on the Ketchikan cruise port.
Tours that stop at Creek Street
Most walking and road tours pass the street or the salmon ladder. These are the ones that stop, and for how long.
| Tour | What you do there | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Small-group photo walk through town | Photographs on the boardwalk, then the Harris Street Bridge | 35 min, then 20 min |
| Salmon ladder, Herring Cove and Saxman road tour | The salmon ladder at the creek and falls | 15 min |
| Trolley loop of town and Herring Cove | The salmon ladder, and a drop-off on the street | 15 min, then 5 min |
| Salmon ladder, beach and waterfall loop | The salmon ladder; the tour ends on the street | 15 min |
| Small-van wildlife and culture loop | The salmon ladder, in spawning season only | 10 min |
| Herring Cove and City Park nature tour | Drives past, with a drop-off at the end | — |
Creek Street: questions
What is Creek Street in Ketchikan?
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What is Dolly's House?
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Next: the totem poles on Ketchikan totem poles, more of the town on things to do in Ketchikan, or every tour on Ketchikan Alaska Tours.