Primary Name: Peterson, Irma

Filed as: Peterson, Irma

Also known as: Irma Peterson

Occupation / Association: Member of the Peterson mining family

Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Telephone Hill, Juneau, Alaska; Peterson Lake, Alaska; Tee Harbor, Alaska; Prairie Basin, Alaska

Keywords: Irma Peterson Juneau Alaska, Peterson family Juneau Alaska, Peterson Lake Juneau history, Cheechako Creek mining claim, Prairie Basin Alaska mining, Tee Harbor mining history, Telephone Hill Peterson Kasnick House, Marie Jensen Peterson, John G Peterson miners

Biography

Irma Peterson was born in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century to John G. Peterson and Marie Jensen Peterson. She had a sister, Margaret Peterson. The family lived on Telephone Hill in Juneau in the Peterson-Kasnick House, which they built at 203 West Third Street.

In April 1899, John G. Peterson staked a placer mining claim on the creek that now bears his name. He called it Cheechako Creek and named one of its tributaries Goose Creek, while the surrounding valley became known as Prairie Basin. Later in the same year, the lake associated with the claim appeared in mining records as Reservoir Lake. By 1905, it had become known as Peterson Lake.

Peterson eventually sold his store in order to devote his full attention to mining. His principal lode claim was located about half a mile east of the lake and was originally reached by a trail from Tee Harbor.

He later constructed a home at Pearl Harbor and cut a wagon road from there to the mine site, where he installed a three-stamp mill. Peterson operated the mine until shortly before his death on August 20, 1916.

After his death, Marie Jensen Peterson continued operating the mine for several years with the assistance of her daughters Irma and Margaret.

The present Peterson Lake Trail follows the route of the old wagon road, leaving Glacier Highway at Mile 24. Peterson Lake lies on the mainland approximately sixteen miles northwest of Juneau and about one mile from tidewater at Tee Harbor.

Sources

Local historical records and mining reports related to the Peterson Lake area.