Kennicott vs Kennecott: What’s the Difference?

WRANGELL-ST. ELIAS NATIONAL PARK

Two different spellings describe one historic region of America’s largest national park

Kennecott Glacier winding its way south down the Kennicott valley with the Chugach Mountains visible in the distance

Historic Kennecott Copper Mining Town

Kennicott

The spelling with an “i” refers to any natural landscape feature such as the Kennicott Valley, Kennicott Glacier and Kennicott River.

It’s the original spelling given to features in the valley in honor of the American naturalist and explorer Robert Kennicott (1835-1866).

Kennecott

This spelling with an “e” is used to describe anything regarding the historic copper mining town (1911-1938). It was actually a clerical error that was made during the town’s conception. Yep, it’s a misspelling? Whoever officially wrote down the name Kennicott to describe the town and the copper mining operations made a mistake and spelled it with an ‘e’ rather than an ‘i’. But the name stuck anyway likely because it was too late to go back and fix the misspelling in so many official business documents.