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History · Atqasuk

Atqasuk was first counted by the census in 1940

Most of Atqasuk was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1940.

1940first census
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Thester11 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Atqasuk began

When was Atqasuk founded?

1940

Atqasuk first appears in the census in 1940.

First census: 78 in 19402020 census: 27686 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Atqasuk’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Atqasuk are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1940 and 1960, then grew 9-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Atqasuk’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Atqasuk, census by census

01002003001940196019802000202078 in 1940Low: 30

Lost half of its people between 1940 and 1960, then grew 9-fold.

8 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

The story

How Atqasuk came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Atqasuk.

Read it all →

The area surrounding Atqasuk has been used by the Iñupiat people for generations as a site for hunting and fishing. During World War II, the U.S. military operated a small coal mining site near the community to supply fuel to facilities in Utqiaġvik. The modern settlement of Atqasuk was reestablished in the 1970s when families returned from Utqiaġvik to resettle ancestral lands. The community is formally recognized as the Native Village of Atqasuk (Atkasook) under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and operates under a tribal government.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Atqasuk, 1951 to 2020

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1951Post officeThe Meade River post office opens
  3. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1957Post officeThe Meade River post office closes
  5. 21st century
  6. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 276
By decade

Atqasuk, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Atqasuk2006Atqasuk
On the map

Atqasuk on the map in 1955

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Atqasuk.

Atqasuk on the 1955 USGS map1955Meade River B-3 sheet · 1:63,360

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Another post office, Meade River, opened and closed inside today’s town.

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

Questions about Atqasuk’s history

What year was Atqasuk founded?

The Atqasuk post office opened in 1940, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1982.

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 (1), Wikipedia, 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.