Hyder, Alaska - Friendliest Ghost Town in Alaska

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 Did you know that there is an exclave called Hyder in Alaska. ?


Hyder

Hyder is located  at the southeastern tip of the Alaska Panhandle, separated by the Coast Mountains and glaciers.. It  is geographically isolated and lacks direct road access from the rest of Alaska. The only road access is from Stewart, British Columbia, Canada. It is 2 miles from Stewart. It is located at 55°N, 130°W. 



Map position of Hyder, Alaska




Hyder is 75 miles from Ketchikan, Alaska. It is a 96 mile fjord which forms a border of the US and Canada. Fjord means a long narrow water inlet surrounded by mountains.

Red dot represents location of Hyder on Alaska map




What is a panhandle?


Panhandle means a narrow strip of territory that looks like in picture below for example Idaho, Texas etc. 


Texas Panhandle example




History


The USA  bought Alaska from Russia in 1867. There was an agreement on the  border between Russia and Britain in 1825. As part of the agreement, when the USA bought Alaska, the agreed border including Hyder was part of the USA.  


This  town was established in 1907.  Hyder was originally called Portland, It was named Portland because of the Portland Canal. Portland Canal is the name of the inlet of the Pacific Ocean near British Columbia, Canada..  The city  was later renamed in 1914. It was named after Canadian minder Frederick Hyder.


Hyder was used for mining from 1924 to 1950.  Gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, and tungsten were extracted from the Riverside Mine on the Alaskan side of the border. It  is now largely dependent on tourism from highway visitors. The community continues to pay homage to its mining roots and is known as the "Friendliest Ghost Town in Alaska."





How to get there?

You can only go there from Stewart , BC  via Glacier Hwy/ BC-37A. . So you need a valid passport and cross the US and Canada border. There is no boat access.  It is ~3 miles (5.4km) from Stewart BC. It only takes 10 minutes to drive from Stewart to reach Hyder..



Directions from Ketchikan , AK to Hyder. 



Interesting facts

The current  population is 16 as per the 2023 census. It has a school and post office,  but no local police station. 

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