Excursion Inlet (

Lingít The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; however, some are First Nations in Can ...

: ''Ḵuyeiḵ’ L’e.aan'') is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

Haines Borough Haines Borough is a home-rule borough located in the state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,080, down from 2,508 in 2010. Geography The borough has a total area of , of which is land and (14.9%) is water. Adjacent bor ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. The population was 40 at the 2020 census, up from 12 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Geography

The community of Excursion Inlet is located in southern Haines Borough at (58.411303, -135.408740), on the east side of Excursion Inlet, an arm of the

Icy Strait The Icy Strait is a strait in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska, at about . Geography Icy Strait separates Chichagof Island to the south and the Alaska mainland to the north. The strait is from its west side at the intersection ...

. The CDP extends north to the boundary of

Glacier Bay National Park Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in Southeast Alaska west of Juneau, Alaska, Juneau. President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the area around Glacier ...

near the head of Excursion Inlet, south to the mouth of Excursion Inlet, and east to the crest of the

Chilkat Range The Chilkat Range is a mountain range in Haines Borough and the Hoonah-Angoon Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska, west of the city of Juneau. The Chilkat Range is one of the principal divisors between Haines Borough and Glacier Bay National ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 0.25%, are water.

Demographics

Excursion Inlet first appeared on the 1940 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It did not reappear until the 2000 U.S. Census when it was made a census-designated place (CDP). As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 10 people, 8 households, and 2 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 85 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 100.00%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. There were 8 households, out of which none had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, and 75.0% were non-families. 75.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.25 and the average family size was 2.00. In the CDP, the population age groups were spread out, with 30.0% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 50.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 60 years. For every 100 females, there were 400.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 400.0 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $16,250, and the median income for a family was $10,000. Males had a median income of $38,750 versus $0 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $18,188. Below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

were 25.0% of the population, 50.0% of families, none of those under 18 and 40.0% of those over 64.

History

Excursion Inlet was originally an

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

settlement, one of several locations where the Huna Tlingit dispersed around 1750 (

Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Mat ...

) when the glaciers of present day

Glacier Bay Basin Glacier Bay Basin in southeastern Alaska, in the United States, encompasses the Glacier Bay and surrounding mountains and glaciers, which was first proclaimed a U.S. National Monument on February 25, 1925, and which was later, on December 2, 19 ...

advanced into Icy Strait. Excursion Inlet has had a fishing

cannery Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although unde ...

since 1891. The current plant, constructed in 1918, still functions to this day. It mostly processes pink and chum salmon, as well as salmon roe, salmon caviar, halibut and sablefish. It is located near the mouth of the inlet, about west of

Juneau Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of wha ...

. Its seasons run from late June to mid-September. Excursion Inlet Cannery is one of the largest fish canneries in the world and was acquired by Ocean Beauty Seafoods in 2003. During the early stages of American involvement in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

built a major

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

terminal at Excursion Inlet. Capable of handling large ocean-going cargo ships and intended to be manned by thousands of soldiers, the terminal was built to serve as a logistics base for the Army's efforts to liberate the Aleutian Islands from their Japanese invaders. However, by the time the terminal was completed in late 1943, the Aleutian Campaign was effectively over, and the terminal had no evident future purpose. When the facility's existence became public knowledge in early 1945, newspapers decried it as a wasteful boondoggle, and the Army opted to quietly shut it down. German

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

were later brought in to dismantle the base and salvage usable materials. The docks and some of the buildings were sold to the cannery and remain standing today."German POWs helped dismantle SE Alaska's 'White Elephant'"
Kiffer, Dave. SITNews, February 17, 2015

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Alaska Census-designated places in Haines Borough, Alaska Populated coastal places in Alaska on the Pacific Ocean Road-inaccessible communities of Alaska