Alaska is dotted with boom towns that had their moment in the sun, and then faded into obscurity. No other story is quite as dramatic as the rise and fall of Council on the Seward Peninsula. When gold was discovered near Ophir Creek in 1898, Council became a glorious Gold Rush boom town. When gold was discovered in nearby Nome in 1900, it was over for Council and many of the residents followed the gold and moved away for good.
The remains of the town are rusting and slowly sinking into tundra including a train and track. Now the area is a fishing spot for Nome residents and almost no one occupies the area year-round. Explore the haunting remains of the boom town Council.
Council had 15,000 people at the height of popularity from 1898 to 1900. Then most residents moved to Nome 72 miles away to mine the next gold strike. Nome replaced Council as the Seward Peninsula boom town.
Matthew Gillman | Flickr
The Council City & Solomon River Railroad started construction in 1905 and finished in 1906 after laying only 35-miles of track.
NOAA Photo Library | Photo Credit: Dr. John Cloud, NOAA Central Library, Historian) | Flickr
This railroad was built to support mining claims up Solomon River. Now the sign reads “The Last Train to Nowhere.”
Gregory “Slobirdr” Smith | Flickr
What the people abandoned, the animals have made their own. A herd of caribou moves through the fog on the beach where miners used to gold pan.
jpc.raleigh | Flickr
The Nome-Council Road stretches 72 miles between the two towns. Nome residents sometimes visit this area to harvest trees as there are none in Nome.
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve | Flickr
The Safety Roadhouse is the last stop on the Iditarod trail and an old fashioned roadhouse. The only business on the Nome Council Rd., drop in for a bit of pioneer hospitality.
chdye89 | TripAdvisor
Dredges like this processed tons of rock, searching for gold, but now are fading into the past. The ruins of the ghost town of Council is a peaceful day trip on th Seward Peninsula.
Matthew Gillman | Flickr
Cool temperatures in the summer and harsh arctic winters were too much for many of the prospectors and they headed back south, most of them still penniless.
TiresiasZ | Flickr
Have you been to Council? Tell us about it in the comments below.
Matthew Gillman | Flickr
NOAA Photo Library | Photo Credit: Dr. John Cloud, NOAA Central Library, Historian) | Flickr
Gregory “Slobirdr” Smith | Flickr
jpc.raleigh | Flickr
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve | Flickr
chdye89 | TripAdvisor
TiresiasZ | Flickr
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