Nolan Center Museum

The Nolan Center houses Wrangell's museum, visitor centre, and civic theater under one roof. The museum tells the town's layered history from Tlingit occupation through Russian, British, and finally American control — Wrangell is the only location in Alaska to have been under all three flags — with a collection of artefacts, photographs, and oral histories that is substantial for a town this size. The house posts and carved items in the collection are the highlight for anyone interested in Northwest Coast Indigenous art.

The visitor centre staff are genuinely helpful and can assist with permits for Anan Creek, information on the Stikine River, and recommendations for local guides. The museum is open daily in summer and on a reduced schedule in winter. The carving shed near the tribal house, managed by the Wrangell Cooperative Association, is worth visiting to watch traditional totem restoration and new carving work in progress — visitors are welcome.

things to do museum
A story
Among the museum's holdings are four carved house posts from the late 1790s — among the oldest objects of their kind anywhere — and a collection of historical photographs documenting life in Wrangell through the Russian, British, and American periods. The same master carver who made the famous Whale House pieces in Klukwan is believed to have made these posts, which gives Wrangell a direct connection to the apex of Northwest Coast carving tradition.