Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Chicken, Alaska, is a remote gold-rush town located along Alaska’s Taylor Highway near the Yukon border, more than 200 miles east of Fairbanks. Settled in the late 19th century, the community developed as an outpost of the 40-Mile mining district. Active gold mining continues in the area to this day. Historic buildings and large gold dredges, hauled to the isolated area at great expense, still mark the landscape, and a portion of the town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Chicken Historic District.
The town’s name is often said to come from early residents wanting to name it after the local ptarmigan, but choosing “Chicken” instead because they couldn’t agree on the spelling of ptarmigan. A competing explanation is that the name derives from nearby Chicken Creek, which was named for the small, chicken-feed-sized gold found there.
These scenes capture an unidentified group visiting Chicken around 1950, offering a glimpse of the town during the mid-20th century. The original home movie was damaged by floodwater prior to donation, but the Alaska Film Archives was able to recover and preserve many scenes, ensuring that this rare visual record of life in remote Interior Alaska endures (Color/Silent/8mm film).
This sequence contains excerpts from AAF-10641 of the John and June Carlson collection held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives Department in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
The Alaska Film Archives appreciates your support. Your donation in any amount will help us continue important preservation work. Please visit the “About” section of our YouTube channel to learn how you can help today. Thank you! For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
Chicken, Alaska, is a remote gold-rush town located along Alaska’s Taylor Highway near the Yukon border, more than 200 miles east of Fairbanks. Settled in the late 19th century, the community developed as an outpost of the 40-Mile mining district. Active gold mining continues in the area to this day. Historic buildings and large gold dredges, hauled to the isolated area at great expense, still mark the landscape, and a portion of the town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Chicken Historic District.
The town’s name is often said to come from early residents wanting to name it after the local ptarmigan, but choosing “Chicken” instead because they couldn’t agree on the spelling of ptarmigan. A competing explanation is that the name derives from nearby Chicken Creek, which was named for the small, chicken-feed-sized gold found there.
These scenes capture an unidentified group visiting Chicken around 1950, offering a glimpse of the town during the mid-20th century. The original home movie was damaged by floodwater prior to donation, but the Alaska Film Archives was able to recover and preserve many scenes, ensuring that this rare visual record of life in remote Interior Alaska endures (Color/Silent/8mm film).
This sequence contains excerpts from AAF-10641 of the John and June Carlson collection held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives Department in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
The Alaska Film Archives appreciates your support. Your donation in any amount will help us continue important preservation work. Please visit the “About” section of our YouTube channel to learn how you can help today. Thank you! For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
