Watson Lake

Watson Lake, community, southern Yukon, Canada. It lies along a small lake on the border with British Columbia. It originated as a 19th-century trading post and was named after Frank Watson, a pioneer trapper-miner. It is now a key communications and distribution point for the southern part of the territory. The community has road connections to Whitehorse (220 miles [354 km] west-northwest) and to Canadian cities to the south. It is also an important base for prospectors, hunters, trappers, and fishermen and is the site of Yukon’s largest lumbering and sawmilling operation. The “Sign Forest” at Milepost 634.3, just east of Watson Lake, is an unusual collection of signposts that originated in 1942 with homesick Alaska Highway construction workers who erected signs bearing the names of and distances to their hometowns; the practice was carried on by tourists and created an unusual highway landmark. Pop. (2006) 846; (2011) 802.