Skagway Museum is not only one of the finest in a town filled with museums, but it's one of the finest in the Southeast. It occupies the entire 1st floor of the venerable century-old McCabe Building, a former college, and is devoted to various aspects of local history, including Alaska Native baskets, beadwork and carvings, and, of course, the Klondike gold rush.

The display that draws the most looks is the small pistol Soapy Smith (Skagway's most notorious gold-rush-era gangster) kept up his sleeve.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Moore Homestead Museum

0.08 MILES

The founder of Skagway was not a gold-hungry Klondike stampeder but the savvy Captain William Moore, who arrived in the area on a hunch in 1887 and built…

2. Wells Fargo Bank

0.09 MILES

This bank dates back to 1916 (although it looks newer) when a group of East Coast businessmen founded the National Bank of Alaska, and built this bank a…

3. Junior Ranger Activity Center

0.18 MILES

At the Pantheon Saloon, built in 1903, kids are the customers. The historic bar is now home to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park’s Junior…

4. Mascot Saloon Museum

0.22 MILES

The only saloon in Alaska that doesn’t serve booze – but it did during the gold rush, and plenty of it. Built in 1898 the Mascot was one of Skagway's 80…

5. Arctic Brotherhood Hall

0.25 MILES

The most outlandish building of the seven-block historical corridor along Broadway St, and possibly the most photographed building in Alaska, is this…

7. Jeff Smith's Parlor

0.28 MILES

Soapy Smith’s old den of iniquity has recently been renovated by the National Park Service to keep the rose-tinted legend of the erstwhile conman alive…

8. Jewell Gardens

1.05 MILES

If the crowds are overwhelming you, cross the Skagway River to Jewell Gardens. Located where Henry Clark started the first commercial vegetable farm in…