Discovery Claim on Pedro Creek
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
The city of Fairbanks exists in large part due the discovery of gold at this location. Felix Pedro (an Italian immigrant who Americanized his name from Felice Pedroni) struck it rich here on July 22, 1902. He filed his claim a couple of days later and officially recorded in October. He named the creek and adjacent hill after himself. Upon hearing of the discovery, people flocked to the site and established the city of Fairbanks, which is 12 miles south. The discovery also resulted in the beginning of major mining enterprises in the Alaskan interior. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Nothing of the mining operations on the creek remains so the area resembles what it looked like on that day in 1902.
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Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio