Tongass Historical Museum

It was a pleasant visit. Senior 65 and over admission. Well cared for building. Friendly staff. Located near Creek Street. So much to see.

It was an informative museum, but not very big, and not really worth the price of admission. It did give me a chance to get out of the torrential downpour, and I was able to take a few cool pics from inside, overlooking the creek.

Excellent exhibits and beautiful view of the creek! The museum is affordable (under $10) and free for military! Be sure to donate. The displays are informative, well kept, and specifically mention some of the more unsavory parts of history which is often overlooked or intentionally ignored for the glorification of colonialism. Highly recommend.

We took a 20mins walk from Totem Historic museum to here. You can also wait for the free shuttle outside the museum to come over here. A small little compact museum, but all exhibits give you a true sense of the history, culture, and enduring strength and spirit of the people of this salmon city-Ketchikan. It’s provide information about the past Like mining, fishing, cannery, totem poles, Tlingit people and new exhibits are about the new local life. Good to spend 1-2hours reading through the information of course it will be great if tour guide are there to explain more lively information. The reception young staff is patient and explained how we should go round visiting museum. There is a free shuttle bus stop right outside the museum which gave us much convenient during the rainy day.

Didn't arrive till 4.30 and it closed at 5 so very kind staff didn't charge us anything. Really well set out. Extremely interesting. Many thanks for allowing us the chance to visit

The Tongass Historical Museum really provides you with a holistic view of the area and rich history. From the beginning with fossils to mining, oil, cannery (fish), logging, pulp mills, totem poles and the Tlingit people! There are 1,000’s of artifacts and pieces in their collection to see. They don’t charge very much ($6) to go thru and see all the fascinating nuggets of history!

Nice little museum with plenty of arifacts and interesting old photos. Inexpensive too. We really liked the beautiful river that you can view from the museum, or walk to it behind the museum.

Very appreciative that individuals, volunteers and whom ever made the efforts to share the knowledge, experiences, artifacts, with feelings and emotions so that I and others can have a "small" understanding & experiences of those whom came before me, their work, struggles and pleasures. Gives an appreciation of maybe how better I or we have it. The enjoyable photographs that others have taken... just shows a small sample of things of life experiences. An experience that Tongass Historical Museum, Totem Heritage Center and others locations are very important to all US and those who came before us. Do not miss the opportunity!!

I enjoyed this museum. It told the history of fishing, totem pole making and life during that time. The displays were spread out nicely so you had room to read about the exhibits. I could have spent a couple of hours here.

The Tongass Historical Museum really provides you with a holistic view of the area and rich history. From the beginning with fossils to mining, oil, cannery (fish), logging, pulp mills, totem poles and the Tlingit people! There are 1,000's of artifacts and pieces in their collection to see. They don't charge very much ($6) to go thru and see all the fascinating nuggets of history!

IT WAS TERRIBLE! My mom who is in her 60s really needed to use the restroom. The woman working at the front desk refused to let her go to the bathroom because they were cleaning it. I would understand if the bathroom was being repaired or there was a plumbing issue. But the fact that it was just being cleaned and she really had to go and the front desk woman wouldn't let her. It's just ridiculous! My mother is also in her 60s so it's not like she can run to the nearest bathroom in a restaurant or cafe. If I could give this place zero or negative stars I would. It just about having human compassion and giving a person some dignity. It honestly really soured the whole experience in Ketchikan. I understand when staff don't like rude tourists or even tourists over taking their town. But my mother wasn't rude and even begged because it was an emergency. I want to save my mom some face but to put it mildly it was a humiliating experience for her to walk back to the boat to clean herself up. Please train your staff properly and allow an elderly woman some dignity the next time she asks to go to the restroom even if it's being cleaned. It literally only takes an additional 10 minutes of patience. Nothing more.

The place is no bigger than a corner store with nothing to really read or do. I am amazed that the items on display doesn't have a thick layer of dust and that the TV they have playing is not a tube TV. The only good thing about this place is that they have a clean restroom.

A lot of information that you can gain about Ketchikan is here. So much information that we just don't have enough time but it's enough to understand about the forest and the past 120 years. The employees are very friendly and helpful in giving you information as needed. Lots of restaurants and the favorites are Salmon and if you have had to much of Salmon it's going to be Halibut with chips. The fish is so fresh you can eat it daily. You are guaranteed to get % of Omega 3 fatty acid.

Great museum. Nicely laid out, helpful staff, and interesting displays. I would definitely go again, I learned a lot.

Cheap admission, small museum but if you're on a cruise and looking for 30-45 minutes indoors before you get lunch or head back to the ship after an excursion, well worth it! I traveled independently (not on a cruise) and spent about 90 minutes in here, reading absolutely everything and admiring the art. I'm a history buff so perhaps a bit biased, but I enjoyed my time here. Then made the short walk to the local bookstore and bought some material to learn more.

Tongass Historical Museum is a small and only somewhat interesting museum about the history of fishing in Ketchikan. If you're interested in learning about the various kinds of nets, lures, boats, and the other equipment used in commercial fishing, this is the museum for you! Admission is only $2 and you can see the whole, one room museum in maybe 15 or 20 minutes (if you spend time reading the signs and photo descriptions.) If you're in Ketchikan you may as well take a look.

The museum was nice and clean. There are not any tour guides because tours are given by local tour guides that you would have to book in advanced, but there is plenty to read. There are replicas of scenes of the Tongass Rainforest, Samon Hatcheries, and Native Fishing sites. One cool exhibit was that they had a camera to view the salmon swimming back up into the creek along Creek St. unfortunately there were no salmon at that time. The last portion of the museum hosts local minerals and products local to Ketchikan. Overall the host of the museum said it would take us about 3 hrs to walk though, we were done in 45 minutes. I guess it could take 3 if you have trouble reading. So if you have some time to kill, check it out and you might learn something.

Small and interesting museum about the history of Ketchikan. Admission is only a few bucks, and will take 20 -30 minutes or so to peruse at a leisurely pace.

A very small museum for a very small Alaskan port town. I visited Ketchikan on a cruise and had planned to visit this museum prior to departure. I was very pleased with their exhibits, they really did have something for everyone. A lot of photos and artifacts to help bring the short history of this town to life.