Chicken is a very very very small town in the remote wilderness of
Alaska, about 100 miles from Dawson City. The town was started around
1895 when
gold was discovered nearby. Originally, the town was named
Ptarmigan, after Alaska's state bird which looks like a chicken. They eventually renamed the town because Ptarmigan was too hard to spell. During the
Gold Rush years, the town's population swelled to about 400.
Anne Hobbs Purdy tells of her experiences as a schoolteacher in the book
Tisha, which is based in Chicken. The old schoolhouse is now located on the old town site, which was abandoned when the Jack Wade Gold Mine closed in
1967.
Chicken is located at milepost 66 on
Taylor Highway, a gravel road which is closed in the
winter. The town has about 17 residents, although the population increases during the summer months when miners come to work at nearby gold mines. The town has no telephones or flush toilets, and they get their electricity from generators. Very few people have televisions. There is currently no school in Chicken, so
children are taught at home.
Chicken's
ZIP code is 99732. Mail arrives on Tuesdays and Fridays by plane at the nearby airstrip.
During the summer months, popular activities include
hiking and canoeing, and walking tours of the old town site. Tourists may pan for gold behind The Goldpanner, a souvenir shop. The adventurous can experience the
Wild Tire Ride, in which one climbs into a giant truck tire and rolls down the hill toward the airport. In the winter, activities include
skiing and snowmobiling.
Poker Run, a snowmachine race from Dawson City to Tok passes through Chicken.
Chicken's business district consists of a
post office, bar, gift shop, cafe, salmon bake, and gas pump.
The town's fire department burned down in 1982.