Hope, along with Sunrise, sprang up as a supply center for miners who stampeded to the area during the Turnagain Arm Gold Rush. Today Hope is considered the best preserved gold rush community in Southcentral Alaska. Many of the historical buildings are still in use.
IMAGES:
- Robert Mathison with 385 ounces of Gold, which was a result of 58 days of placer mining. Mathison and his family, originally from Texas, became one of the first families to settle permanently in Hope. (Hope and Sunrise Historical Society -Mathison Collection 2010.030.019)
- A stamp mill, which was used to crush rock in search of gold, is transported on the back of horse-drawn wagon. Circa 1902 (Hope and Sunrise Historical Society – Carl Clark Collection 2010.029.044)
- After surface gold was mined by pick and shovel, miners used hydraulic methods to extract deeper placer gold. Water pressure from nearby creeks or man-made ditches pushed gold-bearing gravel through long lines of sluice boxes.(Hope and Sunrise Historical Society – Carl Clark Collection 2010.029.068)