Ketchikan is a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost sizable city in Alaska. With an estimated population of 7,368 in 2010 within the city limits, it is the fifth most populous city in the state.^[2]

Ketchikan’s economy is based upon tourism and fishing, and the city is known as the “Salmon Capital of the World.” The Misty Fjords National Monument is one of the area’s major attractions. For most of the latter half of the 20th century, a large portion of Ketchikan’s economy and life centered around the Ketchikan Pulp Company pulp mill in nearby Ward Cove.

Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town. Ketchikan comes from the Tlingit name for the creek, Kitschk-hin, the meaning of which is unclear. It may mean “the river belonging to Kitschk”; other accounts claim it means “Thundering Wings of an Eagle.”^[4]

Ketchikan’s secondary post office box ZIP code, 99950, is the highest ZIP code ever assigned in the United States, although most residents use the ZIP code 99901.^[3][5][6] Ketchikan also has the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles, found at three major locations: the City of Saxman, Totem Bight State Park, and the Totem Heritage Center. Some totem poles are replicas made during the Roosevelt Administration through the CCC, which employed Natives in replicating their heritage through carving totems.