RUBY ALASKA
A Gold Rush Town On The Yukon River
In 1906 gold was discovered on Ruby creek which brought more prospectors to the area. When word leaked out in 1910 about the discovery of gold on Long Creek, some 30 miles south of Ruby, it sparked a gold rush. New discoveries were then reported almost daily and continued through the following years. In 1912 gold was found on Greenstone and Poorman Creeks, in 1914 on Swift Creek and in 1920 on Moose Creek. Ruby became the supply center for mines in the area. Total gold production for the Ruby area through 1960 was about 390,000 ounces. Alaska's largest gold nugget, 294 ounces, was found in 1998 in the Ruby area at Swift Creek Mine.
By summer of 1911 a tent city and a few wood frame buildings had sprung up. The city of Ruby was offically founded in January of 1912 and incorporated January 13, 1913. The name was actually a mistake as the early miners thought the red rocks (garnets) found in the streams were Rubies. In it's early days Ruby was sometimes called, "The Gem of the Yukon." Another nickname for Ruby was "The Hub of Alaska" for it's location in the near geographical center of the state.
At it's peak Ruby had a population close to 3,000 with as many as 5000 people in the area. Ruby had electric lights, telephone, stores, outfitters, two newspapers, a post office, two lumber mills, hotels, a movie house and a show hall. There was scheduled barge and riverboat service. For a few years Ruby rivaled Fairbanks as the center of civilization in Alaska.
The following pictures are owned by Alaska Digital Archives. See many more pictures of early Ruby and Alaska on their web site.
