Primary Name: Tibbits, Frank

Filed as: Tibbits, Frank

Also known as: Frank Tibbits

Occupation / Association: Boat builder; early Douglas and Juneau resident

Associated places: Douglas, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Gastineau Channel; Columbia River region

Keywords: Frank Tibbits, Tibbits family Douglas Alaska, Tom Fisher boatbuilder, Marion boat Douglas Alaska, early Gastineau Channel transportation, Douglas Alaska pioneers

Biography

Frank Tibbits was an early resident of the Douglas and Juneau area and was associated with early transportation on the Gastineau Channel.

By 1888, Tibbits and Tom Fisher installed a boiler and engine in a Columbia River–type sailboat and enclosed the vessel so it could carry approximately twelve passengers. The small steamboat was named “Marion.”

The vessel represented one of the small passenger boats used during the early development of the Douglas and Juneau communities, when water transportation across Gastineau Channel served as the primary means of travel between settlements and mining camps.

Sources

Survey and Inventory of Douglas Historic Cemeteries