City of Ketchikan

Government AdministrationAlaska, United States501-1000 Employees

The City of Ketchikna is a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost city in Alaska.

Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town. Ketchikan comes from the Tlingit name for the creek, Kitschk-hin, the meaning of which is unclear. It may mean "the river belonging to Kitschk"; other accounts claim it means "Thundering Wings of an Eagle.

Ketchikan is located on Revillagigedo Island, 90 miles (140 km) north of Prince Rupert, British Columbia and 235 miles (378 km) south of Juneau, Alaska.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.1 square miles (11 km2). 3.4 square miles (8.8 km2) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2) of it (18.60%) is water.

The ½-mile (800 m) wide channel called the Tongass Narrows separates Ketchikan from Gravina Island, where Ketchikan International Airport is located. In August 2005 the 2005 Highway Bill provided for $223M to build the Gravina Island Bridge (nicknamed "the Bridge to Nowhere" by its critics) between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. The bridge would have connected the island of Ketchikan to Gravina Island where the airport is located, so that one can drive to the airport rather than taking the ferry across the waters. After years of national and international ridicule over the expense of this project, the Alaska government ultimately chose not to build the bridge, and will spend the appropriated funds elsewhere.

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