On Wednesday, Skagway School’s fourth-grade class took a tour of the newly renovated Jeff Smith’s Parlor. The historical museum is set for its grand opening on April 30.
The building served several different purposes over the decades, including as a bar, a French restaurant, and the Skagway Volunteer Fire Department’s Hook and Ladder Co. garage. Long after the death of Skagway’s top con man, Jeff ‘Soapy’ Smith the building became Jeff Smith’s Parlor museum in the late ‘30s and, back then, was complete with working robots. Today, the robots are still there, though they don’t work anymore. The donated collection that came with the building included nearly half a million artifacts, many of which are on display in the revamped museum.
Photos provided by Ben Hayes, Chief of Interpretation and Education for the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Visit the website here.
