Sahlin Falls is located at the base of Sahlin Creek on the northern shore of Sheep Bay, approximately 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Valdez and 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Cordova, Alaska. The creek originates from a cirque glacier at an elevation of about 2,800 feet (850 m) and flows south for 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to Sahlin Lake, situated at an elevation of 720 feet (219 m), and then continues southeast for 1.2 miles (2 km) to Sheep Bay.  The entire watershed lies within the Chugach National Forest. The name Sahlin Falls was first reported by the U.S. Forest Service in 1933. The creek is named after Julius Sahlin, who operated a sawmill at its mouth starting in 1918. Sheep Bay is a deglaciated fjord that extends northeast for about 8 miles (13 km) from the northern shore of Orca Bay in eastern Prince William Sound. The underlying bedrock is part of a granitic pluton formed by a magma intrusion in the early Eocene, approximately 53.5 to 50.5 million years ago.

The Chugach, or Sugpiaq people, have inhabited the region around Prince William Sound for millennia, according to the archaeological record. They are Alutiiq, or Pacific Eskimo, and speak the Chugach dialect of the Alutiiq language. Historically, they traded with and fought against neighboring groups such as the Eyak, Ahtna (or Dena’ina), and the Tlingit. In 1741, Vitus Bering, a Danish explorer serving in the Imperial Russian Navy, encountered the Chugach. Spanish, English, and American explorers soon followed. After the Alaska Purchase in 1867, mining and fishing enterprises proliferated in Prince William Sound. In 1907, the Chugach National Forest was established, encompassing all of Prince William Sound from the Copper River in the east to the Kenai Peninsula in the west. The Chugach National Forest, covering 5.6 million acres (2.3 million ha), is the second-largest national forest in the U.S., following the Tongass. Located at the northern limit of the temperate rainforest zone, about one-third of its area consists of barren rock and glacier ice. From 1911 to 1938, the Copper and Northwestern Railway connected the copper mines at Kennecott to a shipping terminal in Cordova.

The demand for wood during the construction and maintenance of the railway was enormous, as all the bridges, trestles, and railroad ties were made from timber. The canneries also required wood for barrels and boxes. Several small sawmills were built in the national forest to supply lumber. Some were constructed on barges that could be moved, while others, such as those at Sahlin Creek, were built on land. The Sahlin Falls Lumber and Box Company was established by millwright Julius Sahlin, David Collier, and M.E. Kenney, all from Anacortes, Washington. The facility employed 12 people and consisted of a sawmill, a large store building, and a warehouse. Two large Pelton wheels were installed at the falls, providing 200 horsepower. The rough lumber was used to manufacture boxes, while the best lumber was made into barrels for the herring salteries and salmon canneries. Dimensional lumber was also available on the local market. Read more here and here. Explore more of Sahlin Creek and Sheep Bay here: