Creek Street Historic District
Ketchikan's old red-light boardwalk, built on pilings over Ketchikan Creek, now lined with shops and galleries.
By Greg Peters, editor · Updated October 2026
Ketchikan's old red-light boardwalk, built on pilings over Ketchikan Creek, now lined with shops and galleries.
Read more about its history
- Ketchikan, Alaska Wikipedia
- City of Ketchikan: a history for preservation Alaska Office of History and Archaeology (DNR)
- Creek Street (Ketchikan, Alaska) Wikipedia
- Dolly's House (24 Creek Street) SAH Archipedia (Society of Architectural Historians)
Highlights
- Red-light district from about 1903 until brothels were shut down in 1954
- Listed on the National Register as the Creek Street Historic District on August 6, 2014
- Salmon move up Ketchikan Creek in late summer; The Milepost says to look in late July
- Dolly's House museum and The Star (5 Creek Street, NRHP 1993) stand on the boardwalk
- Cape Fox Hill funicular rises from beside Creek Street to the Cape Fox Lodge
Facts checked October 18, 2026 with en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, visitktn.com. Hours and prices change, so confirm before you go.
About the district →Map: Creek Street Historic District
The 3D map shows the walk here from Berth 2. Expand it to pick your dock and explore.
Map: USGS elevation; streets and buildings © OpenStreetMap contributors.
More in Totems & History
Dolly's House Museum
The small green house where Dolly Arthur lived and worked, kept with her own furniture and wallpaper.
Tongass Historical Museum
The city museum on Ketchikan's story, from Tlingit fish camp to cannery town, steps from Creek Street.
Totem Heritage Center
A city museum holding weathered 19th-century totem poles brought in from abandoned Tlingit and Haida villages.
Round out your day
Scanlon Gallery
Long-running Mission Street gallery for Alaska art prints, originals, pottery and glass, with framing upstairs.
The Asylum
Lively Water Street bar with a long regional tap list, an upper deck facing the port, and burgers from across the street.
Heen Kahidi Dining Room
Cape Fox Lodge's restaurant, on the hill above Creek Street, with forest and harbor views and Alaska seafood.