Jeff. Smiths Parlor Museum

Charles Bunnell Photograph Collection, 58-1026-1109, Archives, University of Alaska Fairbanks

From Bank to Parlor: 1897 - 1900

In July, 1897, boats began off loading thousands of crazed gold rush stampeders into the new town of Skagway. By September, businesses and wooden buildings began to appear. One of those early business, the First Bank of Skaguay [sic], constructed a small two-room building on 6th Avenue just off Broadway. By May, 1898, the bank moved out and Jefferson "Soapy" Smith set up his "business" inside the building. For less than three months, Smith and his band of robbers and con artists ran their schemes to fleece unsuspecting stampeders and intimidate the community. The use of the building as Jeff. Smith's Parlor ended abruptly on July 8, 1898 when Smith was shot to death in a gunfight and his band arrested. For the next two years others businesses tried their luck in the building including the Mirror Saloon, Clancy's, the Clancy Cafe, and the San Souci Restaurant. All of them failed.