Gustavus, Alaska

Gustavus, formerly known as "Strawberry Point," lies on the outwash plain formed by the glaciers that once filled Glacier Bay. Two hundred years ago, the area was primarily a single large "beach" utilized by the native Tlingit people and others for fishing, berry picking, and other similar uses. The first settlers arrived in 1914 but left shortly afterward. The first permanent homestead was established in 1917, when Abraham Lincoln Parker moved his family to Strawberry Point. Many Gustavus residents are descendants and relatives of the original Parker homesteaders.

In 1925, the name "Gustavus," was adopted when the U.S. Post Office required a change for its new post office, although locals continued calling it "Strawberry Point" long afterwards. The new name came from Point Gustavus at the mouth of Glacier Bay.

In 1793, George Vancouver named Point Adolphus (at the northern tip of Chichagof Island, and today a well-known humpback whale feeding area) after Adolphus Frederick, the seventh son of King George III. In 1878, during a coastal survey, W. H. Dall saw "Adolphus" on the map and assumed it was for Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus. The point across Icy Strait from Point Adolphus at the mouth of Glacier Bay was not named on the map, so Dall called it "Gustavus". Another possibility is that Dall named Gustavus for Gustavus C. Hanus,^[8] a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who had extensive experience throughout southeast Alaska, and both Dall and Hanus served with the Coast Survey in Alaska. Hanus laid out the first streets in Juneau and helped quell the trouble in Klukwan in 1881.^{[citation needed]}

There is still a large beach at Gustavus, with many strawberries. It is surrounded on three sides by Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and bordered by water on the fourth. The area is a temperate rain forest; spruce and hemlock trees reach heights of 60 metres (200 ft), and alders, balsam poplar, fern, mosses, fireweed, lupine, and other plants are common. Gustavus's coastal location gives it a relatively mild winter. Summer temperatures range from 11 to 17 °C (52 to 63 °F), while winter temperatures range from −3 to 4 °C (27 to 39 °F).

Gustavus is located at 58°24′59″N 135°44′44″W (58.416327, -135.745549).^[9]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 36.9 square miles (95.7 km²), of which 32.8 square miles (85.0 km²) are land and 4.1 square miles (10.7 km²), or 11.16%, are water.^[10]

Gustavus is split by the Salmon River, a small waterway crossed by a bridge for the paved road running out to Glacier Bay National Park. Coho salmon, Dolly Varden, and other fish are commonly caught in this river. Within the city limits, the river is affected by tides.

Gustavus has a wet, maritime subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) with short, mild summers and long, cold winters.

Gustavus first appeared on the 1940 U.S. Census as "Strawberry Point,"^[15] an unincorporated village. In 1950, it returned as Gustavus and was made a census-designated place (CDP) in 1980. Its status was changed to an incorporated city in 2004.

The Gustavus economy^[20] is strongly linked to the surrounding natural resources; tourism and commercial fishing are mainstays. However, the importance of commercial fishing is in decline, as the Dungeness crab fishery in Glacier Bay National Park was closed in the early 2000s and the fishing for Dungeness outside of the national park has become poor. Salmon and halibut remain the primary catch of the commercial fishing done out of Gustavus. Those not involved in tourism or seafood typically work for the government at the public school, the post office, the National Park Service, or the City of Gustavus.

The hardware and grocery store is called ToshCo, named after its owner and most of its inventory is from Costco in Juneau.^[21]

Gustavus is not connected to the contiguous highway system. Gustavus Airport and the Alaska Marine Highway provide access between Gustavus and the outside world. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, the ferry system shut down and Gustavus became even more isolated, relying on private boats for grocery shipments.^[22]