McCarthy
McCarthy lies 61 miles east of Chitina off
the Edgerton Highway. It is on the Kennicott River at the mouth of
McCarthy Creek, 12 miles northeast of the junction of the Nizina and
Chitina Rivers, in the heart of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and
Preserve. It lies at approximately 61° 26' N Latitude, 142° 55' W
Longitude (Sec. 16, T005S, R014E, Copper River Meridian). The community
is located in the Chitina Recording District. The area encompasses 101
sq. miles of land and 1 sq. miles of water.
The
Kennecott copper mines and camp were established about 1908 across from
the Kennicott Glacier, five miles north of McCarthy. An early
misspelling named the mine and mining company Kennecott, while the town,
river and glacier are spelled Kennicott. In 1911, the Copper River &
Northwestern Railway carried its first car load of ore from Kennecott to
Cordova. Since no gambling or drinking were allowed at the town of
Kennicott, nearby McCarthy developed as a colorful diversion for the
miners. It provided a newspaper, stores, hotels, restaurants, saloons, a
red light district, housing over 800 residents. Kennicott became a
company town with homes, a school, hospital, gym, tennis court and
silent movie theater. Over its 30-year operation, $200 million in ore
was extracted from Kennecott, the richest concentration of copper ore
known in the world. In 1938, the mines closed and both towns were
abandoned.
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