World Art Utopia

Kennecott — Wrangell–St. Elias National Park, Alaska

Red mill and mine buildings climb a hillside at Kennecott, Alaska, with pink fireweed beside a gravel road and snowy peaks in the distance
Artwork FileKennecott, Alaska

Kennecott

SeenJun 2026

Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark, Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Photo: Historic American Engineering Record / Library of Congress (public domain), as published on Street Art Utopia.

Kennecott is an abandoned copper-mining company town beside the Kennicott Glacier, inside Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Its red mill buildings processed ore from mines high on the ridge from 1911 until the operation closed in 1938. The site has been a National Historic Landmark since 1986, and the National Park Service bought much of the mill town in 1998. Source Source Source Source Source Checked

Seen June 2026: the National Park Service’s June 2026 community update calls the site a popular tourist destination and says Mill Town areas and buildings that are open to the public will stay open during its summer field work. Source Reported

More photos

Black-and-white view of Kennecott's bunkhouses and mill buildings climbing a hillside, with the concentration mill at the top and a mountain peak behind
1982 The mill town from the south, boarding house in front (HAER survey)Photo: Jet Lowe / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
The weathered red concentration mill at Kennecott stepping up a steep green slope, with a bare mountainside behind
2013 The concentration mill on its steep slopePhoto: W. Smith / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

💡 5 things to know

  1. Copper in a green patchIn 1900 two prospectors, named as Clarence Warner and “Tarantula” Jack Smith, found the ore after spotting what looked like a green patch high on the mountain. The National Park Service calls it the richest deposit of copper ore left in the American West. Source Source Source Checked
  2. A 14-story millThe timber-frame concentration mill, begun in 1909, rises 14 stories up the slope. Ore came down to it on aerial tramways from the mines on the ridge above. Source Source Source Source Checked
  3. $200 million of copperFrom 1911 to 1938 the operation processed nearly $200 million worth of copper; the Park Service gives the ore’s value as $200,000,000 in 1938 dollars. Source Source Source Checked
  4. The last trainThe mines closed in 1938 and the town emptied. Wikipedia dates the last train out to November 10, 1938; Western Mining History says November 11. Source Source Conflicting
  5. Saved, then stabilizedKennecott was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and made a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The Park Service bought much of the mill town in 1998, and in summer 2021 it finished stabilizing levels 7 to 11 of the mill. Source Source Source Checked

📍 Where it is

The Kennecott Mill Town lies beside the Kennicott Glacier, roughly 4.5 to 5 miles north of McCarthy, in the heart of Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Visitors arrive by small plane or by the unpaved McCarthy Road; in winter there is no vehicle access or shuttle to the mill town. Source Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

Opens the coordinates the National Park Service gives for the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark; the pin marks the landmark, not this exact viewpoint.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 1938

    The copper operation closes · National Park Service

  2. 1964

    A history of the Kennecott Mines published · Alaska DGGS

  3. 1982Jul

    Mill town from the south · HAER photo, camera date

  4. 1986

    Named a National Historic Landmark · National Park Service

  5. 201322 Jul

    The mill on its slope · Commons photo, camera date

  6. 20217 Sep

    Mill stabilization Phase III completed · National Park Service

  7. 2026Jun

    Mill Town buildings open to the public stay open · National Park Service

Amber stamps mark records or reports; green stamps are dated photos. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

National Park ServicePage updated 20 August 2026

Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark

“In 1900, two prospectors discovered the richest deposit of copper ore left in the American West.”

Read the source →

Library of Congress (HAER AK-1)Documentation compiled after 1968

Kennecott Copper Corporation, On Copper River & Northwestern Railroad, Kennicott

“Kennecott’s significance lies in its quality, as well as quantity, of high grade ore.”

Read the source →

National Park ServiceJune 2026

Community Update: Kennecott Mines and Mill Town Site

“Mill Town areas and buildings that are currently open to the public will remain open during investigation activities”

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Name
Kennecott (also spelled Kennicott) Source Source Checked
Park
Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska Source Source Checked
Operator
Kennecott Copper Corporation, backed by J.P. Morgan and the Guggenheim family Source Source Source Checked
Mill
14 stories; construction began in 1909 Source Source Source Checked
Operated
1911–1938 Source Source Source Checked
Output
Nearly $200 million worth of copper ($200,000,000 in 1938 dollars) Source Source Checked
Workers
About 300 in the mill town and 200–300 in the mines at the peak Source Reported
Last train
November 10, 1938 (Wikipedia) vs November 11, 1938 (Western Mining History) Source Source Conflicting
Landmark
National Register of Historic Places 1978; National Historic Landmark 1986 Source Source Source Checked
NPS purchase
1998, including much of the historic mill town Source Source Checked
Spelling
Named after the Kennicott Glacier; the “e” is said to come from a clerical error Source Reported
Status
Mill Town buildings open to the public, reported June 2026 Source Reported

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 8 November 2026 · How we verify art