Mike Pusich (1896-1953) was a

Serbian American Serbian Americans () or American Serbs (), are Americans of ethnic Serb ancestry. As of 2023, there were slightly more than 181,000 American citizens who identified as having Serb ancestry. However, the number may be significantly higher, as ...

immigrant who was Mayor of

Douglas, Alaska Douglas is a community on Douglas Island in southeastern Alaska, directly across the Gastineau Channel from downtown Juneau. History Douglas Island was originally a border of the Auke people’s and Taku people’s territory. It was not usual ...

. Pusich immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1909 and settled in Douglas in 1912, where he remained until his death. He opened the Douglas Saloon in 1914, and became fire chief in 1936. As mayor, Pusich traveled to

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

at his own expense to secure the funds to relocate the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Mines office and laboratory to

Douglas Island Douglas Island () is a tidal island in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is part of the city and borough of Juneau, just west of downtown Juneau and east of Admiralty Island. It is separated from mainland Juneau by the Gastineau Channel, and contains ...

, and succeeded. In 2017, the Douglas Harbor was renamed 'Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor' to recognize the decades of contributions made by Pusich.McCarthy, Alex. "Pusich Family Gathers to Unveil Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor." Juneau Empire. N.p., 28 May 2017. Web. 14 June 2017.

Notes

:1. In the Juneau city ordinance referenced in the article, Sombor is incorrectly spelled as "Kumbar" due to its

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

form, Сомбор, a common mistake made by people who do not use Cyrillic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pusich, Mike 1896 births 1953 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Alaska American restaurateurs Mayors of Juneau, Alaska People from the Territory of Alaska Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States