Wickersham State Historic Site

Cool little historic site. Wickersham was an important figure in Alaska's territorial days, and it's impressive that his house has survived all this time. Only the first floor is available for exploring.

NOTE: I did this tour in 2017. Standard historical house tour with an excellent, warm, and inviting tour guide. That said, I would recommend reading up about Judge Wickersham - he had some noteworthy foibles, particularly involving a history of discriminative actions against Asian Americans and of being a seemingly pathological liar. Despite that, the home itself is well-kept and it's always worth taking the opportunity to revisit a piece of history, if only to increase our awareness of how things came to be.

I was a dental student from Portland, Oregon and spent the summers of 1966 and 1967 driving taxi for Yellow Cab in Juneau. I took many tourists to the "House of Wickersham" to listen to Ruth Alman's {niece of the judge] historical narratives. She served sourdough pancakes and rose hip jam after the lecture. Before leaving my last summer in 1967, she gave me her sourdough starter. I have kept it viable to this day.

Closed for COVID. I called the museum in advance, but recieved no answer, but Google Maps says it is open, and their website only says "Closed For 2020". So we decided to risk it and make the hike in the rain, thinking the museum would be perfect for a rainy day. When we got there, we were met with a sign saying it's closed 'til 2022 because of COVID. Google Maps and the Museum need to update their websites to say that is closed. The neighborhood has some pretty houses, but that's about it.

We had a great visit and discussion with the docent, Mary Kay. Judge Wickersham was a pretty talented and bold person with a lot of professionalism, determination and resiliency.

The historical site is worth the walk up to it. Learning about the site and the people who lived there is helpful in knowing about Juneau.

Interesting old home of a key historical figure. Not a lot to see inside, but knowledgeable docent was very welcoming.

Fun historic house tour. Well worth the climb up the stairs.