Haines is a small town of about 2600 people located 80 miles north of Juneau (the state capital) on a narrow peninsula at the northern end of America's longest fjord. Haines shares a border with millions of acres of wilderness and serves as the southern terminus of the Haines Highway.

The Haines Visitor Bureau has a very informative website about Haines' tourism industry and the Haines Chamber of Commerce website provides plenty of business-oriented information about Haines.

Click on the map above/right to see a detailed view of the Haines Area.

Schools

The schools operate on the September to May school calendar. School usually begins in the third week of August and closes in the third week of May. Hours are normally from 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM.

Haines has two pre-school programs. One is private and one is publicly funded. There are usually around 10 - 12 children per class, (three classes total) with ages ranging from 3 years to 5 years of age. The school building is located in a quiet neighborhood setting shared with other public services.

The Haines Elementary / Middle school, grades K - 8, has approximately 280 students housed in two nearly adjacent buildings. There are 14 classroom teachers, and certified staff members in special education, physical education, music, art, computer and other remedial programs. The District also has a K - 4 school 27 miles from the city at Mosquito Lake.

The Haines High School has a fluctuating population that seems to be decreasing in number when compared to a 10-year average. The students in the grades 9 - 12 can number between 90 - 115 any given year. There are 10 full time teachers with 6 staff including a principal and vice principal. The physical plant has two buildings: the vocational shop and the main building. The main building has a gym, swimming pool, and library and there is an adjoining track and field, which includes a tennis court. A new High School is planned and approved to be completed by 2007.

24 credits are necessary to graduate. 75% of graduates continue on to higher level of education. Drop out rate is 2%. Contact; the Haines Borough School Administrative Assistant at 766-2644 for more information.

Medical Facilities

SE Alaska Health Consortium Clinic (SEARHC) is a 24 hour emergency care facility with staff on call after hours. There are three doctors on rotating shifts most are available with appointments during the day time hours, and one Physician Assistant and a Physical Therapist. The clinic also has a pharmacy with one Pharmacist, and one administrative assistant. Another family doctor in private practice is located in another building off Mud Bay. Six medical doctors live in Haines. The Haines Borough operates an ambulance company with 14 volunteer members, the majority of which have 5 - 20 years of experience in emergency medicine and three EMT III's. The State of Alaska has a public health nurse available 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The community has a private Dentist in practice with a full staff and an office open 5 days a week, the SEARHC organization also operates a dental facility as well with a full staff. There is one acupuncturist, a private home health care provider and mental health services.

Transportation

The State of Alaska operates an airport 5 miles from the city limits. There are three private air carriers with daily flights to and from Juneau. The State of Alaska operates a ferry system with the port located outside of the city center 5 miles. The ferry has daily stops in port May - September and three to four stops weekly during the off tourist season, October - April. Additionally there are two private water taxi services with passenger only transportation to and from Skagway in the summer. The Haines Highway is open year around and exits to the interior of Canada with connecting roads to the lower forty eight states, (very hard two and 1/2 day drive to Seattle) and the rest of Alaska, (Anchorage a hard 17 hour drive through Canada).

Churches

There are 11 churches in Haines. Nine are denominational and two are non-denominational.

Financial Institutions

1 - First National Bank of Anchorage, automatic teller machine available 24 hours.

Government Summary

The Haines Borough citizens voted to change the government into one system for efficiency reasons in 2002. The City of Haines incorporated in 1910, recently City of Haines and the Haines Borough merged into a "Home Rule " by popular vote. They have the typical services one would expect.

There are 7 elected officials with a professional Manager form of government, the elected Mayor and Assembly Members giving the Manager direction. The borough employs on a full time basis a Manger, Clerk, Financial planner and two administrative assistants for public utilities collection, Planner, Assessor and two administrative assistants for collection, Librarian and two staff, five police officers including the police chief, 4 emergency communication dispatchers, 2 fire / EMS personnel, 2 water and sewer engineers, 4 maintenance employees, and 1 harbor master with part time summer help. The borough also maintains two volunteer Fire Departments and one EMS emergency response department (currently with 60 plus members, a part time paid fire chief and two full paid time EMT's).

There is a commercial / industrial dock, 2 small boat harbors, and 3 public boat ramps.

City sales tax is 4% with property taxes at 5.85 mils, borough sales tax is 1.5%, with property taxes at 4 mils.

The State of Alaska has one full time State Trooper, one full time Fish and Game Protection officer, 2 full time Fish and Game managers, one full time Parks officer, one full time Forester, a Magistrate, a public health nurse, and all agencies have summer time assistants as support staff.

The United States Government operates the Home Land Security border station at the United States / Canadian border crossing. Home Land Security has 10 full time protection officers. The Canadian government has an equal counter part on the Canadian side of the border. The U. S. station is open 24 hours and entry into the United States is available every day at any time, however you can not enter Canada other than between 7:00 AM and 11:00 PM

Between the U.S. / Canadian border, the State of Alaska, and the City of Haines there are 17 full time law enforcement personnel. The natural boarders of rugged mountains, deep fjords, and one road entering and exiting the community makes Haines one of the most protected communities in Alaska. There is little crime activity.

Utilities

Haines Light and Power operates the electric utility primarily from a submerged power line from a hydro - electric source in Skagway with diesel generators as a back up system. This utility serves both Haines and Skagway. Tlingit Haida operates a rural utility company for the people living in the upper end of the Haines Valley, electricity is available almost everywhere. There is one home heating fuel company (diesel) and one propane supply company, 4 gas stations, there are two sanitation companies, one has a land fill that also has home pick up service, the other is a drop off service, the borough operates the water supply which for the most part which is within the townsite of Haines or the "old" city limits.

Climate

This is the best kept secret in Alaska. Summers are very nice and only a short trip inland brings many warm days in excess of 80 degrees. Winters are mild with snow fall varying yearly from 8 feet to 18 feet with very little to mild rain fall. About one - two weeks out of the year the temperatures will drop below minus 10 degrees on the coast. Inland, (20 miles) temperatures of this cold nature are not uncommon and may occur often.

Haines has few opportunities for natural disasters. A small earthquake fault does exist but lays up the Chilkat Valley and Haines has never had a serious earthquake or natural disaster.

Thanks to Yahoo for this image.