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History · Buffalo Soapstone

Half of Buffalo Soapstone’s homes were built after 1997

Most of Buffalo Soapstone was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Buffalo Soapstone’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 Buffalo Soapstone are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Buffalo Soapstone’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Buffalo Soapstone, in brief

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

Buffalo Soapstone is a census-designated place (CDP) in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Anchorage, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,021 at the 2020 census, up from 855 in 2010.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 855 to 1,021 (+19%).

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Buffalo Soapstone on the map, 1951 to 1994

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

Buffalo Soapstone on the 1951 USGS mapBuffalo Soapstone on the 1979 USGS mapBuffalo Soapstone on the 1994 USGS map1951Anchorage C-6 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 Buffalo Soapstone.

People over time

Buffalo Soapstone, census by census

02004006008001,00020002020Peak: 1,021

Between 699 and 1,021 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Buffalo Soapstone

Nobody well known was born in Buffalo Soapstone itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Kerry WeilandAmerican ice hockey and inline hockey player · b. 1980
Laird BarronHorror writer, dogsledder · b. 1970
Bristol PalinDaughter of Sarah Palin · b. 1990
D
David RegisteDominica long jumper · b. 1988
J
John GourleyAmerican musician · b. 1981
Levi JohnstonAmerican model and actor · b. 1990
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gone or out of use
Premier Minemine

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.

Fishhook1 historic placeCSutton-AlpineIts storyD−Farm Loop2 historic placesC

Questions about Buffalo Soapstone’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.