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Gustavus is located at 58°24'59" North, 135°44'44" West (58.416327, -135.745549) 1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 97.6 km² (37.7 mi²). 97.6 km² (37.7 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.
The community of Gustavus lies on the historic outwash plain created by the glaciers that once filled Glacier Bay. Only two hundred years ago it was primarily, one big “beach.” The town itself is barely one hundred years old, being legally homesteaded in 1955, but pre-Gustavus history speaks of native Tlingit Indians and others using the area for fishing, berry picking and other similar uses.
Gustavus used to be known as Strawberry Point, for reasons you probably can guess. In 1925 Strawberry Point was officially given the name Gustavus by the government upon the creation of a local post office. At the time, most locals preferred Strawberry Point.
Gustavus was picked by the government because that's what had been on the maps for 47 years. In 1793 Captain George Vancouver named Point Adolphus (today a well-known humpback whale feeding area) after Adolphus Frederick, the seventh son of King George. In 1878, William Healey Dall, while working on a coastal survey, saw “Adolphus” on the map, and assumed it was for King Gustavus II of Sweden, who was also known as Gustavus Adolphus. Strawberry Point, which is across from Point Adolphus, wasn’t listed on the map so Healey put “Gustavus” on the map!
Today, Gustavus still has a big beautiful beach with many strawberries. It also is surrounded on three sides by National Park and the fourth side by water. SpruceAbout 35; see text. Norway Spruce Picea abies cone Spruce refers to trees of the Genus Picea a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are lar and HemlockThe genus Tsuga ( Pinaceae) includes those trees called hemlock (see hemlock for other senses of the word). The genus includes 8 species, 4 in North America and 4 in Asia. The name Tsuga is the Japanese word for Tsuga sieboldii''. Western Hemlock, Tsuga h trees reach 60 m (200 feet) into the sky, and alderThis article is about the tree. For other uses of the name, see Alder (disambiguation Many species, see text. Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants Alnus belonging to the birch family (Family Betulaceae). The genus comprises about 30 spes, balsam poplarBalsam poplar Western Balsam Poplar Populus trichocarpa Scientific classification : Plantae : Magnoliophyta : Magnoliopsida : Salicales : Salicaceae : Populus : Tacamahaca Binomial name ''see text The balsam poplars Populus sect. Tacamahaca are a group of, fernPteridophyta, the Ferns ''Tree fern Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pteridophyta Classes Marattiopsida Osmundopsida Gleicheniopsida Pteridopsida Fern or pteridophyte is any one of a group of some twenty thousand species of plants clas, mosses, fireweedEpilobium angustifolium Fireweed or (mainly in British English formal botanical texts) Rosebay Willowherb Epilobium angustifolium is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Willowherb family ( Onagraceae). Some botanists separate the species off from the othe, lupine and other plants also adorn what is technically a temperate rain forest. Being on the coast brings in wet air and keeps everything green and lush, plus giving Gustavus a relatively mild winter. Summer temperatures hold around 16 to 19°C, while most of the winter is a “warm” 3°C.