Taku Harbor

Taku Harbor (also spelled Taco, Tacou, or Takou) is a small, remote bay located on the eastern shore of Stephens Passage about 22 miles southeast of central Juneau, Alaska, United States.[1]

Taku Harbor is named after the Taku people; this name was applied as early as 1848 by Captain Lieutenant M. N. Vasilief of the Imperial Russian Navy.[1] It was the site of Fort Durham, a trading post established by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1840; this location is now a National Historic Landmark.[2][3]

On the eastern shore Taku Harbor is the community of Taku Harbor (alternatively spelled Tako, Takoo, or Takou and formerly known as Takokakaan or the Taku-kon Villages). This has comprised up to four Tlingit villages or camps. A census taken in 1880 provided a population count of 269.[4]

The San Juan Fishing & Packing Company established a salmon cannery and cold-storage plant at Taku Harbor in 1901. It was the only such plant to operate in Alaska until 1909.[5]

The names of the bay and the community were collected by the United States Geological Survey between 1976 and 1981, and entered into the Geographic Names Information System on March 31, 1981.[1][4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 USGS GNIS Feature Detail Report: Taku Harbor (bay)
  2. ↑ USGS GNIS Feature Detail Report: Fort Durham
  3. ↑ Olson, Wallace M. A History of Fort Durham. 1994.
  4. 1 2 USGS GNIS Feature Detail Report: Taku Harbor (populated place)
  5. ↑ Cobb, John N. Pacific Salmon Fisheries. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1921.

Coordinates: 58°04′00″N 134°01′09″W / 58.06667°N 134.01917°W / 58.06667; -134.01917


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