Petersburg is the perfect small town, the sort of prosperous, picturesque, quirky place that used to be mythologized in Disney films. Except that Petersburg would never let Disney in the door. Petersburg's residents are glad the big cruise ships can't enter their narrow harbor, keeping the town unspoiled by the ships' throngs of tourists and seasonal gift shops. Instead, the main street thrives with family-owned grocery and hardware stores, a fish market, and other businesses. Wooden streets over Hammer Slough still serve utilitarian purposes. As you walk along Sing Lee Alley and check out the stylish little bookstore, you'll see Norwegian fishermen in pickup trucks and blond-haired kids on bikes.
Because Petersburg is small and isolated, there are wonderful trails, mountain-biking routes, and secret places where you will seldom see other people. On the water, the humpback whale-watching is as reliable as anywhere in Alaska and largely undiscovered. There's a glacier to visit, terrific fishing, and limitless sea-kayaking waters. The in-town attractions are few, a day is plenty for simple sightseeing, but Alaska's best is waiting for those willing to spend the effort to look.
Petersburg is named for its founder, Peter Buschmann, who killed himself over bad debts after living here for only 4 years. Buschmann founded a cannery on Mitkof Island facing the slender, peaceful Wrangell Narrows in what was to become Petersburg. The stunning abundance of salmon and halibut and a nearby source of ice -- the LeConte Glacier -- made the site a natural.
Buschmann's suicide followed his financial reverses, but the promise of Petersburg remained. The Norwegians stayed and slowly built a charming town of white clapboard houses with steeply pitched roofs, hugging the water. Their living came from the sea, as it still does. Appropriately, the downtown area doesn't stop at water's edge. Roads, boardwalks, and buildings continue over the smooth waters of Wrangell Narrows, out to the cannery buildings that survive on long wooden piers, and into the boat harbors, which branch out in a network far more extensive than the city's streets.
Today the town's economy is based on fishing and government work. The Stikine Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest is headquartered here. That makes for a wealthy, sophisticated, and stable population.
