Haines, Alaska
city in Alaska, USA
Haines (Tlingit: Deishú) is a census-designated place located in Haines Borough, Alaska, United States. It is in the northern part of the Alaska Panhandle and near Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. As of the 2020 census, the population of the Haines CDP was 1,657, down from 1,713 in 2010; it has 79.6% of Haines Borough's total population.
The Chilkoot Indian Association, a federally recognized tribe of Tlingit people, is headquartered in Haines.
History
The original Native name for Haines was Deishú, meaning "end of the trail"; it was named by the Chilkoot band of the Tlingit. The name is derived from the fact that they could portage (carry) their canoes from the trail they used to trade with the interior. The trail began at the outlet of the Chilkat River and went to Dtehshuh; portaging saved 20 miles (32 km) of rowing around the Chilkat Peninsula.
The first European, George Dickinson, an agent for the North West Trading Company, settled at Dtehshuh in 1879. In 1881, the Chilkat asked Sheldon Jackson to send missionaries to the area.
John Muir, Alexander Alderson, and Samuel Hall Young, a Presbyterian minister, were sent.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Haines, Alaska” as city in Alaska, USA. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city in Alaska, USA. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q79546. VIAF identifies the subject as 159439616. The Library of Congress control number is n79151155. Authority coordinates are 59.234, -135.447. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 2010, 1879 and 1881.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Haines, Alaska”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Haines, Alaska primary sources, Haines, Alaska archive and Haines research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Haines, Alaska”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Haines, Alaska” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.