Klondike National Historic Sites

Commissioner’s Residence; Parks Canada; Dawson City; Yukon; CTC Signature Experiences Collection; Releases on file; Location coordinates 64° 03′ 40” N, 139° 25′ 48” W
(Photo © CTC/F. Mueller)

Parks Canada operates an amazing array of National Historic Sites in the Klondike. In the course of your visit you might choose to explore the town while hearing tales of exhilarating adventures from lively interpreters in period costume, then venture into the Klondike goldfields that stoked a feverish stampede of fortune-hunters. Or you might rather experience stories of famous Dawson City’s writers: Robert Service, Pierre Berton or Jack London; step on board the S.S.  Keno; or just relax on at the Commissioner’s Residency veranda surrounded by pristine gardens. Whatever your style, Parks Canada and Klondike National Historic Sites has something for you!

Address: 

Dawson City, YT

Hours: 

Site is open all year-round

Visitor services are available from May to September

Enquire at the Visitor Information Center for program times

Web site: 

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/yt/klondike/index.aspx

SPOTLIGHT:

Joe Boyle

A hometown hero in every sense, Joe Boyle was an extraordinary visionary who turned his wildest dreams into goals – and achieved them.

After travelling to the Klondike as a boxing promoter in 1897, Boyle quickly recognized the potential of large-scale mining. He convinced the Canadian government to grant him the mining rights to an area larger than a normal mining claim. Here he built a network of dredges in a place considered to be the end of the earth. Over the years, his machines sifted millions of dollars in placer gold from the Klondike. Joe Boyle’s massive Dredge No.4 is now a National Historic Site and is preserved by Parks Canada.

In 1905 Boyle decided Dawson should make a bid for the Stanley Cup. His Dawson City Nuggets made an epic journey to Ottawa, where they endured an exhaustive loss to the Ottawa Silver Seven by the largest margin in Stanley Cup history. To this day Dawson is the smallest town to have competed for the trophy. To this day, the team’s name is engraved on the cup.

When WW1 broke out, Boyle financed a machine gun company composed of local boys and took them to England to aid the war effort.  Joe Boyle himself played many roles throughout the war, including engineer, spy and diplomat. He was decorated by four European countries for outstanding service rendering him a Yukon hero.

In 1984 Joe Boyle was named a Person of National Historic Significance. You can see a plaque in his honour at Dredge No. 4 National Historic Site on Bonanza Creek.

Please enquire at the Visitor Information Centre in Dawson City for opportunities to find out more about Joe Boyle or to visit Dredge #4.

(Photo © Dawson City Museum, 1990.48.1)