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Alaska

Katalla oil-field boomtown

Ghost town Documented siteRestricted
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What you could find

Reported finds from this ground.

Nails and fittingsNails and fittings
Buttons and bucklesButtons and buckles
Old bottlesOld bottles

Also reported: Barber and Mercury dimes, Liberty and Indian Head cents, cartridge cases.

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: North Lincolnshire Museum, Martin Foreman, (CC BY 2.0), Unknown (Public domain), Sheila Sund (CC BY 2.0).

Why this spot

1902-1943 oil and railroad boomtown

Town at Alaska's first commercial oil discovery in 1902 that reportedly reached 5,000 people in 1907-1908 when it was picked as a railroad port. Storms wrecked the jetty and the railroad moved to Cordova; the small oil field kept it going until the refinery burned in 1933, and the post office closed in 1943.View source →

Before you go

Hazards noted for this site.

remote, storms, bears, unstable slopes

Keep exploring nearby

More spots in this area.

Check access and collecting rules for each site.
Cordova copper-rail cannery port78 km away · Tidal foreshore
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