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History · Allakaket

Allakaket was first counted by the census in 1920

Most of Allakaket was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1920.

1920first census
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Allakaket’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Allakaket began

When was Allakaket founded?

1920

Allakaket first appears in the census in 1920. Another post office, Alatna (1925), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 85 in 19202020 census: 177106 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Allakaket’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Allakaket’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Allakaket’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Allakaket, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Allakaket yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Allakaket ( al-ə-KAK-it; Koyukon: Aalaa Kkaakk’et) is a second class city in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area of the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 177 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1920. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 105 to 177 (+69%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Allakaket, 1850 to 1951

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Alaska - Fourth Judicial Division County …
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archiveSt. John's Episcopal Mission
  5. 1925Post officeThe Alatna post office opens
  6. 1938Post officeThe Alatna post office closes
  7. 1938Post officeThe Allakaket post office opens
  8. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Allakaket, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Alaska - Fourth Judicial Division County - ED 4-40, ED 4-4118501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Alask…
1900s1 item
St. John's Episcopal Mission1900St. John's Episcopal Mission
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Allakaket village2013Allakaket villageAllakaket village at dusk2013Allakaket village at duskAllakaket, Alaska2006Allakaket, AlaskaUntitled photo2000Untitled photo
On the map

Allakaket on the map, 1951 to 1970

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Allakaket. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Allakaket on the 1951 USGS mapAllakaket on the 1970 USGS map1951Bettles sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Allakaket.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Alaska - Fourth Judicial Division County - ED 4-40, ED 4-41
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Alaska - Fourth Judicial Division County - ED 4-40, ED 4-41, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Allakaket’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Allakaket, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020177

Grew from 85 people in 1920 to 177 in 2020.

9 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Allakaket’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Allakaket’s post office has been open since 1938. Another post office, Alatna, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alatna
1925–1938
Allakaket
1938–today
19201970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlatnaNew Allakaket

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

AlatnaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Allakaket’s history

What year was Allakaket founded?

The Allakaket post office opened in 1920, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.