Destruction Bay is a small community on the Alaska Highway (historical mile 1083) in Canada's Yukon on Kluane Lake. Populated mostly by non-aboriginal residents, community residents provide Yukon government services to residents in the area (school, highway maintenance), including nearby Burwash Landing and some tourism-related businesses along the Alaska Highway. The name is derived from the wind blowing down structures erected by the military during highway construction in 1942–43. The community has a one-room school serving kindergarten through grade eight.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Destruction Bay had a population of 40 living in 16 of its 32 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of 55. With a land area of 13.9 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

History

In 1942, a camp was set up to be used by crews working to build the Alaska Highway. It was used for housing of workers, as well as a stopping place for truckers to rest, refuel, and service their equipment. Not long after it was built, a severe windstorm destroyed many of the buildings in the camp, leading to the name Destruction Bay.