On June 5, 1900, the SS Athenian pulled away from the Seattle docks packed with construction crews bound for the freezing shores of Nome, Alaska. Driven by the frantic frenzy of a gold rush where fortune could literally be shoveled right off the public beaches, these laborers sailed north into the unknown.
This departure took place right at the absolute peak of the Nome Gold Rush, which differed from the Klondike because the precious metal was found in the beach sand, requiring no complex mining claims. The construction crews on board were desperately needed to build a makeshift city out of thin air to support the thousands of incoming dreamers. They braved treacherous arctic waters to build the infrastructure for America’s last great northern stampede.
