Chicken started as a gold rush town shortly after the Klondike gold rush. Many miners settled in chicken and when they went to incorporate their town, they wanted to call it Ptarmigan (Alaska State Bird) which looks like a chicken. Story goes they couldn't spell Ptarmigain, so they decided on chicken. Post office is still open in the summer and they get mail 3 times a week. Sometimes the Mailplane has to come back because grizzly bears are eating berries near buy. The ground in and around Chicken is freezing and thawing and causes many of the buildings to sway and buckle. Submitted by: Dan Young

Corrections to Chicken, Alaska (one of the few surviving gold rush towns of Alaska):

Gold was discovered on Chicken Creek in 1896, and by 1898 (the Klondike discovery), there were 175 people living in or near Chicken. The remnants of the past consist of buildings and the gold dredge used by the last occupant, the Fairbanks Exploration Co. who dredged Chicken Creek from 1959-67. The Post Office was opened in 1903 (100 years old); mail comes in by plane 2 days a week. The road to Chicken is paved from Tok (completed in 2002), and gravel to the border (towards Dawson). The book, Tisha, was written by resident and school teacher Anne Purdy.

There are campgrounds, food, gas, gifts, goldpanning, etc. in Chicken today.

Regards,
Mke Busby