page_title: Excursion Inlet, Alaska
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Excursion Inlet, Alaska / History
caption_attribution_description: English: From John Cobb field notebook: Cannery of Pacific American Fisheries, Excursion Inlet, Alaska. June 11, 1911 Subjects (LCTGM): Canneries--Alaska--Excursion Inlet Subjects (LCSH): Pacific American Fisheries; Salmon canning industry--Alaska--Excursion Inlet
context_page_description: Excursion Inlet is a census-designated place in Haines Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 12 at the 2010 census, up from 10 in 2000.
context_section_description: Excursion Inlet was originally an Alaska Native village. Excursion Inlet has had a fishing cannery since 1891. The current plant, constructed in 1918, still functions to this day. It mostly processes pink and chum salmon, as well as salmon roe, salmon caviar, halibut and sablefish. It is located near the mouth of the inlet, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Juneau. Its seasons run from late June to mid-September. Excursion Inlet Cannery is one of the largest fish canneries in the world and was acquired by Ocean Beauty Seafoods in 2003.
  During the early stages of American involvement in World War II, the United States Army built a major barge terminal at Excursion Inlet. Capable of handling large ocean-going cargo ships and intended to be manned by thousands of soldiers, the terminal was built to serve as a logistics base for the Army's efforts to liberate the Aleutian Islands from their Japanese invaders. However, by the time the terminal was completed in late 1943, the Aleutian Campaign was effectively over, and the terminal had no evident future purpose. When the facility's existence became public knowledge in early 1945, newspapers decried it as a wasteful boondoggle, and the Army opted to quietly shut it down. German prisoners of war were later brought in to dismantle the base and salvage usable materials. The docks and some of the buildings were sold to the cannery and remain standing today.
caption: Pacific American Fisheries cannery at Excursion Inlet, June 1911
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