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Wasilla, Alaska: Alaska Museums and Gold Rush History
 ere's
the key to really enjoying Wasilla's history. Pretend you've gone back to the past
and the Parks Highway doesn't exist. In old-time Wasilla, the road to Hatcher Pass was the main road. It was called the Carle Wagon Road. It ran from Knik to the Independence Mine.
A century ago, supplies were brought to Alaska's gold miners by boat through the then-booming little town of Knik. Trails fanned out from Knik to all of Alaska's gold fields, including
the trail to Hatcher Pass and the Iditarod Trail. Our goal as a visitor to Wasilla is to get on what remains of that old wagon trail. There is no Carle Wagon Road anymore. It has
evolved into 3 other roads - the "Knik-Goose Bay Road," which turns into "Main Street" in Wasilla, and then becomes "Wasilla-Fishhook Road." You'll find
the Iditarod Trail Museum and the Knik Museum on the Goose Bay section of the old wagon trail. The Historic Railroad Depot is located where the old wagon road crosses the railroad
and the Parks Highway. A frontier village and the Dorothy Page Museum can be found on the Main Street portion of the Carle Wagon Road. And finally, you'll find the Independence Mine
at Hatcher Pass and another museum at the end of the Fishhook section of the old wagon trail. Wasilla was named after Chief Wasilla, an Athabascan Indian leader. |
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