Creek Street District

Creek Street is one of the most popular attractions in Ketchikan, Alaska, and right away, visitors get a sense of its kitschy history. You'll note that everything is on stilts; legend has it that because prostitution was illegal on land, those stilts were the result of resourceful Alaskans finding a way to make it work.

Creek Street was Ketchikan's red-light district up until the late 1920s. A century ago, it was filled with bootleggers, fishermen, and brothels. The main attraction is Dolly's House, a former "house of ill repute" which is now a museum dedicated to what Creek Street used to be.

Creek Street's sort of "separation" from the main area of the city and convenient positioning on an ample creek made it a great place to conduct debauchery, as you could come and go in the cover of night without anyone being the wiser. There is even a street named "Married Man's Trail," which has a staircase and trail leading to the back doors of the row of houses. In theory, this allowed men to discreetly take a walk down through the woods to visit Creek Street.

Today, there are a number of cute shops along Creek Street offering souvenirs, handmade goods, and other one-of-a-kind Alaskan-made wares. There's also an excellent bookstore at the edge of Creek Street that is a must-visit for any bibliophile.

Be sure to check out the salmon run and ladder near the end of Married Man's Trail, where you can watch salmon swimming upstream and, if you're lucky, catch a great picture of them jumping! You can also go fishing while you're in town at Creek Street - there are a couple of places where you can rent gear and get a fishing license for the day.