Town file
Klawock, Alaska
Klawock, Alaska is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 644, "Social Media Mob Murder" (31 October 2025). Klawock sits on Prince of Wales Island in south-east Alaska, in what the hosts call an unorganised area rather than a county.
- Town
- Klawock
- State
- Alaska
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 644
- Approximate location
- 55.556, -133.086
Episode 644 / 31 October 2025 / 70 min / express
Social Media Mob Murder
"This is in far southeastern Alaska... it's on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska... not in a county, it's in an unorganized area." about 0:04:39
The case: Murder of Lincoln 'Bingo' Peratrovich (March 2023); Death of Timothy O'Brien, the Candy Man case (Halloween 1974). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2025
- Population
- 805
- Median household income
- $53,750 a year
- Median home value
- $204,400
- Facebook comments on the post about Peratrovich
- 300 comments
History, in brief
- The first settlers were Tlingit people from the northern winter village of Tuxekan, who used the place as a summer fishing camp. about 0:06:33
- The town's name comes from the Tlingit name Lawa, the man who founded the community. about 0:06:41
- Europeans arrived and opened a trading post and a salmon saltery. about 0:07:03
- In 1878 a San Francisco company opened the first cannery in Alaska at Klawock. about 0:07:08
- A post office opened in 1882. about 0:07:17
- The city was incorporated in 1929. about 0:07:21
- In 1934 Congress awarded federal funding to expand the cannery, on condition that the community stayed liquor-free. about 0:07:25
- The population was 19 in 1920 and about 400 in 1930, after the cannery opened. about 0:05:56
- In 1931 a member of the Barrymore acting family looted a totem pole from the abandoned village of Tuxekan and took it to Palm Springs; it was returned to the Tlingit people in 2015. about 0:07:55
- Frank Peratrovich, a former mayor, was elected to the Alaska Territorial House in 1945, served in the territorial Senate from 1951 to 1959 and was the first vice president of the Alaska Constitutional Convention in 1955-56. about 0:14:31
- Elizabeth Peratrovich went before the territorial legislature in 1945 to demand equality and fishing rights for Native Alaskans; 16 February is Elizabeth Peratrovich Day in Alaska. about 0:15:32
- John Peratrovich, a Croatian immigrant born around 1860, settled at Klawock in 1876, worked as a netmaker, married three Tlingit women and fathered 16 children. about 0:17:59
- In 1998 the city commissioned the construction of a long house with a new totem pole. about 0:11:29
The reviews read out
"Klawock is a very small town compared to Ketchikan and it is hard to comprehend it having room for a ship to dock there."about 0:08:13
"Klawock is basically a parking lot and a complete waste of time; there is a tiny artisan market of two stalls and the local grocery store, that is about it."about 0:08:46
4 stars
"The best place to stock up for a week; good selection of meat and produce, a cafe in the store with wings and pre-made food, and a good tomato, cucumber and Greek salad. No fresh fish, because everyone fishes for their own."about 0:09:00
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Sitka, Alaska135 miles
- McCarthy, Alaska538 miles
- Everson, Washington644 miles
- Lopez Island, Washington651 miles
- Port Angeles, Washington657 miles
- Acme, Washington659 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.