Biography - John G. Peterson

John G. Peterson, early Juneau businessman and miner. Born near Hamburg, Germany, October 7, 1861, Peterson was educated in German schools and learned the tinsmith trade. He came to the United States in 1881, worked at his trade in New York, Chicago and St. Louis, then enlisted in the Army where he served for five years, mostly in Indian Territory. Peterson arrived in Juneau in April, 1888, and bought a small shop here. For the next 13 years he operated a tin, stove, and hardware store and devoted his spare time to prospecting. In 1893 he returned to Hamburg and married Miss Marie Jensen. In April 1899, Peterson staked a placer claim on the creek which now bears his name. He called it Cheechako Creek and one of its tributaries Goose Creek, and named the valley Prairie Basin. Later in the same year the lake was called Reservoir Lake in the mining records. By 1905 it had become known as Peterson Lake. In 1901 Peterson sold his store to devote all of his time to mining. His principal lode claim was half a mile east of the lake and was first reached by trail from Tee Harbor. Later Peterson built his home at Pearl Harbor and hewed out a wagon road from there to the mine, where he installed a three-stamp mill. He operated the mine until shortly before his death which occurred on August 20, 1916. It was afterward operated for several years by Mrs. Peterson and her daughters Irma and Margaret. The present Peterson Lake Trail follows the old wagon road, leaving Glacier Highway at Mile 24.

Peterson Lake - on the mainland 16 miles northwest of Juneau and a mile from tidewater at Tee Harbor. The lake has an area of about 80 acres northwestward to Salt Lake. Named for John G. Peterson.

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