Chicken, located on the Taylor Highway between Tok and the Alaska-Yukon border
west of Dawson City, is a colourful village which has a year-round population of only about a
dozen.
Gold mining has been carried on in the area since 1886, and the post office,
established in 1903, is one of the oldest in interior Alaska.
There are 4 distinctive sections of Chicken now, all quite widely spaced.
Coming in from the east, there's "New Chicken" (where The Goldpanner is), then the original
townsite (to the north of, and not visible from, the highway). If you turn south off the highway
on Airport Road you come to the "Chicken Mall" and The Original Chicken Gold Camp, and finally
there's the post office area at the west edge of town.
Two historic attractions are accessible in Chicken. The Pedro Dredge, the
historic dredge that mined Chicken Creek, is located at The Original Chicken Gold Camp, and tours through it are available for $5. (as of August 2005).
The original townsite is now on the National Register
of Historical Places and tours of the remaining buildings are given daily at 9 am and 1 pm
starting at The Goldpanner at Mile 66.8. Lasting about an hour, the excellent tours cost only $5. per person (as of the 2003
season).
Chicken Gold Camp & Outpost
Home of the Pedro Gold Dredge, offering an RV park, the best gold panning in Alaska, breakfasts and lunches and more.
Why Do They Call it "Chicken"??
A short animated lesson in Alaska nomenclature.
Downtown Chicken
Douglas DeVore has put together a very entertaining site about this tiny village.
Anne Hobbs Purdy
A very short biography of the author of Tisha, the popular book about her years teaching in Eagle, Tetlin, and Chicken.
The Chicken Creek Hotel
A short introduction to the building, with photos of the hotel in 1907, and as an abandoned school in 1999.
The Cowden Dredge
A short illustrated article.
The Jack Wade Dredge
A photo album showing this popular attraction on the Taylor Highway, with links to other resources.
Pedro Gold Dredge
Originally operated by the Fairbanks Exploration Company, this Yuba dredge now rests at an
RV park at Chicken.
Geologic Map of Chicken, Alaska
A small section of a map in US Geologic Survey Bulletin 375, published in 1909.
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