Digital Bob Archive

Dick Willoughby was one of the first 15 men to claim building lots in the new townsite that Richard Harris had named Harrisburgh. The 15 lots were just above the high tide line, along the uphill side of what is now Front Street. The lots were 50 feet wide and 200 feet deep, although that was later cut to 100 feet. They ran from the edge of the hill at present Main Street to somewhere around Franklin Street, and Willoughby's Lot No. 2 was the second one from the western or Main Street end.

Others among the first 15 who staked lots or had lots staked for them included Joe Juneau, Dick Harris, \"French Pete\" Erussard, George Pilz and N.A. Fuller. But in staking their claims they failed to leave any room for streets. Perhaps they did not believe the camp would ever need streets, but a couple of months later, when the population had increased and the miners began to hold meetings to adopt local rules and regulations, streets were mandated.

The problem was remedied along the waterfront by squeezing some of the lots. Dick Willoughby's lot was narrowed to make room for Main Street, and \"French Pete\" lost part of his lot so Seward Street could be opened. The only man who didn't cooperate was N.A. Fuller whose lot was square in the middle of what was laid out as Franklin Street. Consequently that street was not opened through to Front Street for a dozen years.

Some of the recorded paperwork of those years is confusing - the new town didn't as yet have any lawyers - but Willoughby apparently put his fractional lot in with his neighbors to provide a site for the town's first hotel, the Franklin. At any rate, he was listed for a time as one of the owners of the hotel.

For his own dwelling, Willoughby paid Frank Starr $70 for another fractional lot, this one at the top of the hill then known as Chicken Ridge but later called Telephone Hill. He put up a small log cabin on what is now the city parking lot and called it home for the more than 20 years he made Juneau his base of operations. It was very close to the south end of the street that was built and named for him nearly 30 years later.

In April, 1881, Willoughby returned to Silver Bow Basin, where he had staked a placer claim in December, and staked three lode claims. The first, which he called the Cassiar, was described in the location notice as being \"on the high bluff on the southeasterly mountain of Gold Creek a quarter mile above the big canyon at the head of the first northeasterly wash above the big falls.\" The other claims adjoined that one and were named the Tuscan and the Lowhee. The latter was named for Lowhee Creek in the Cariboo District where he had taken out $70,000 in one summer. The Lowhee lode didn't prove nearly that rich.

Willoughby became a partner in the Eureka Placer Mining Company with his original Gold Creek claim, and either sold or traded off his three lode claims. How much money he made out of the whole deal is unknown, but he seemed much more interested in prospecting and entertaining his miner friends than he was in the hard labor of actual mining.