Tibbets, Captain Charles

Occupation: Mariner, ferry operator, later merchant

Associated Places: Juneau, Alaska; Douglas, Alaska; Telephone Hill

Biography

Captain Charles Tibbets was an early mariner and transportation operator in the Juneau–Douglas area during the territorial period. He was associated with the ownership and operation of the first ferry service connecting the communities of Juneau and Douglas.

Tibbets and his wife owned the site of what later became known as the Judge George Alexander House on the southeast face of Telephone Hill from 1889 until the property was sold by his estate in 1931.

As a mariner, Captain Tibbets was involved with the ownership and operation of the first Juneau–Douglas ferry boat company (Davis, 1893). For a number of years, he served as skipper of vessels for the Juneau Ferry and Navigation Company, which later assumed the ferry operations between Juneau and Douglas. These early ferry routes were an essential transportation link between the mining town of Douglas and the growing community of Juneau.

Later in his career, Tibbets commanded vessels for the United States Bureau of Fisheries, reflecting the continued importance of maritime work in the region’s economy.

Toward the end of his life, he operated a candy store located at Main and Third Streets in Juneau, a business mentioned in the Daily Alaska Empire in 1931.

Sources

• Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey, 1984
• Davis, 1893
• Daily Alaska Empire, 1931