Introduction
Outline map of Alaska
Bristol Bay, Alaska is actually an area rather than a distinct place and is well known for its salmon fishing. From the images on the sites below it looks a beautiful place.
Bristol Bay (Wikipedia)
Bristol Bay Borough (Internet Archive) - The borough pf Bristol Bay was actually Alaska's first, being incorporated in 1962
Bristol Bay Borough (Wikipedia)
Greg Syverson's Alaskan Photography (Internet Archive)
South West Alaska (Internet Archive)
Bristol Bay was named in 1778 by navigator and explorer Captain James Cook, "in honor of the Admiral Earl of Bristol" in England. The Earl of Bristol at the time was Augustus Hervey, the 3rd Earl of Bristol
The Silent City
Here's a strange story that concerns Bristol and Alaska. I found it in a book called "Phenomena - A Book of Wonders" by John Michell and Robert J. M. Rickard and published by Thames & Hudson Ltd. in 1977. It is probably a hoax, but I'll put the story here for the sake of completeness.
For some reason the sky above Alaska seems strangely receptive to images of Bristol. Charles Hoy Fort in a book, "New Lands" mentions reports that a mirage of Bristol appeared in the sky several times. Apparently these sightings are more common between 21st June and 10th July. Fort also reports that the local Indians were seeing these images before white settlement.
In 1887, the pioneer, Willoughby, saw and photographed this aerial city. Some people have claimed that this photograph was, in fact, a picture of the real city of Bristol and not some spectral phantom.
Bristol, England in Alaska?
On 31st October 1889, the New York Times an article appeared saying that Mr. L. B. French reported seeing quite plainly in the sky near Mount Fairweather "houses, well defined streets and trees. Here and there rose tall spires over huge buildings, which appeared to be ancient mosques or cathedrals ... It did not look like a modern city - more like an ancient European city".
Fort quotes another correspondant from the Yukon who in June 1897 had seen a great city in the sky. Members of his party speculated on whether it most resembled Toronto, Montreal or Peking, but concluded that it was more like "some ancient city in the past".
I did a search on the net for Charles Hoy Fort, I didn't think I'd find anything, but found the complete text for New Lands, the page that mentions Bristol is Part 2, Chapter 19.
Of course the whole thing was a hoax.
Richard "Dick" Willoughby was a prospector and teller of tall tales and said the wonderful mirage could be seen near the Muir Glacier. The San Francisco Chronicle solved the mystery when an employee of Wells Fargo notified them that he recognized the scene as the skyline of Bristol, England, "the view being from a public park on Brandon Hill. There is a Catholic cathedral there, the main building of which was completed about two centuries ago."
Apparently Willoughby had acquired a blurry photo of Bristol from a stranded English photographer, whose equipment he bought for $10, and he came up with the idea of passing off the photo as an image of a "silent city" mirage. In 1890, Willoughby sold the negative to a San Francisco photographer for $500. Willoughby died in 1892, just two years later.
R.G. Willoughby's mirage, the Silent City, Alaska (Alaska's Digital Archive)
Weird Bristol: The 1899 Alaska photo hoax that sensationally fooled the world (Bristol Live)