Editing Ruby, Alaska (section)

==History==
[[File:Ruby riverboats.jpg|thumb|left|Riverboats on the Yukon River at Ruby during the town's heyday. ca. 1910]]
[[File:Alaska - Ruby - NARA - 23942277.jpg|thumb|right|Northern Commercial Co.]]
[[File:Alaska - Ruby - NARA - 23942289.jpg|thumb|left|Communication towers at Ruby]]
[[File:Alaska - Ruby - NARA - 23942293.jpg|thumb|left|Main street]]
The town of Ruby was established in 1911 as the result of a gold rush. The amount of gold that is in the Fairbanks district is over 8 million troy ounces (250 tonnes) of gold, lodes have yielded over 4 million ounces.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} Gold was first discovered at the current townsite in 1906 on Ruby Creek. That discovery brought more prospectors to the area. In 1910 word leaked out about a gold strike on Long Creek, 30 miles south of Ruby, and a stampede was on. Discoveries on other nearby creeks followed and Ruby became the supply point for the mines.

At its peak the population was near 3,000, but by 1918 the town was in steep decline. Many of the men had left to fight in World War I, and several of the towns business people and their families were lost in the sinking of the Canadian passenger liner [[SS Princess Sophia|''Sophia'']]. A fire in 1929 destroyed much of the business district and a flood in 1931 took out what was left of buildings on the riverfront.

After World War II, Native Americans from near-by Kokrines relocated to Ruby to take advantage of the abandoned homes. There are currently fewer than 200 people living in Ruby.

The largest gold nugget ever found in Alaska, {{convert | 294.10 | ozt }}, was found near Ruby in 1998.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://rubyalaska.info | title=Ruby Alaska a gold rush town on the Yukon River }}</ref>