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Brevig Mission Alaska - Drone 2018Photo: Walter Holt Rose · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Brevig Mission

Brevig Mission’s post office opened in 1963, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Brevig Mission was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Its Register listing is the Teller Mission Orphanage. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1950.

1963first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Brevig Mission’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Brevig Mission began

When was Brevig Mission founded?

1963

The Brevig Mission post office opened in 1963, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1969.

First census: 109 in 19502020 census: 42863 years
Founding year: the first Brevig Mission post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1969.
The story so far

Brevig Mission, in brief

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

Brevig Mission (Inupiaq: Sitaisaq, Sitaisat, or Sinauraq) is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska. The population was 428 at the 2020 census. It is named for the Norwegian Lutheran pastor Tollef L. Brevig, who served at the mission that would later bear his name. First settled in 1900, the mission became known as Teller Mission before receiving its current name. The mostly Inupiat Eskimo population continues to practice subsistence. Brevig Mission is a dry village, which means the sale or possession of alcohol is illegal.

Its first post office opened in 1963. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 388 to 428 (+10%).

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

Timeline

Brevig Mission, 1894 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894In the archiveSiberian herders at Teller Reindeer Station
  3. 20th century
  4. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1963Post officeThe Brevig Mission post office opens
By decade

Brevig Mission, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s6 items
Siberian herders at Teller Reindeer Station1894Siberian herders at Teller Reindeer StationTeller Reindeer Station headquarters1894Teller Reindeer Station headquartersTeller Reindeer Station herd1894Teller Reindeer Station herdTeller Reindeer Station personnel1894Teller Reindeer Station personnelTeller Reindeer Station, 18931894Teller Reindeer Station, 1893Teller Reindeer Station, June 29, 18921894Teller Reindeer Station, June 29, 1892
1900s–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
On the map

Brevig Mission on the map in 1950

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brevig Mission.

Brevig Mission on the 1950 USGS map1950Teller 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 Brevig Mission.

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.

Siberian herders at Teller Reindeer Station
Retake this viewSiberian herders at Teller Reindeer Station, 1894

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Brevig Mission

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2001
Teller Mission Orphanage
Teller Mission Orphanage
Buildings
All 1 listings
Teller Mission OrphanageBuilding · listed 2001

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Brevig Mission, census by census

01002003004001960198020002020428

Grew from 109 people in 1950 to 428 in 2020, 3 times over.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Brevig Mission’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSiberian herders at Teller Reindeer Sta…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Brevig Mission’s history

What year was Brevig Mission founded?

The Brevig Mission post office opened in 1963, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1969.

What is on the National Register in Brevig Mission?

One place: the Teller Mission Orphanage (listed 2001).

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (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.