Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Cantwell

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Cantwell

Cantwell dates to 1916

Most of Cantwell was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1940.

1916founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Lpangelrob · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Cantwell began

When was Cantwell founded?

1916

Cantwell dates its founding to 1916 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1940.

First census: 17 in 19402020 census: 200110 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1924.The full story ↓

What stands out about Cantwell’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 Cantwell are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cantwell’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cantwell’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
The story

How Cantwell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cantwell.

Read it all →

Prior to the western settlement of Cantwell, the only inhabitants of the area were nomadic Ahtna Athabaskans who subsisted off the land. The Ahtna people know Cantwell as 'Yedatene'na'. Then Cantwell was renamed after Lieutenant J. C. Cantwell, military explorer and commander of the revenue steamer Nunivak on the Yukon River, 1899-1901. The settled town began as a flag stop on the Alaska Railroad. This flagstop supplied the Valdez Creek mining area, which had the name "Denali" for the Valdez Creek community. Many Indians from the village of Tyone came to work at Valdez Creek and later lived out their lives in the Cantwell area. Many Tyones are buried in the old Cantwell graveyard, next to the railroad tracks. Oley Nicklie, a Native Alaskan, sought work with the railroad after fur prices dropped. He and his two brothers then founded part of the settlement. Cantwell is 20 miles away from…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cantwell, 1916 to 1949

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1916
    FoundingCantwell is established
  3. 1924Post officeThe Cantwell post office opens
  4. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Cantwell, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Welcome to Cantwell sign2023Welcome to Cantwell signCaribous2019CaribousCantwell, Alaska2019Cantwell, AlaskaCantwell, Alaska2019Cantwell, AlaskaCantwell School Circle2012Cantwell School CircleCantwell, Alaska2007Cantwell, Alaska
On the map

Cantwell on the map, 1949 to 1951

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

Cantwell on the 1949 USGS mapCantwell on the 1951 USGS map1949Healy B-4 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 Cantwell.

People over time

Cantwell, census by census

010020019401960198020002020Peak: 222

Between 17 and 222 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

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

Questions about Cantwell’s history

What year was Cantwell founded?

In 1916, according to Wikidata. Cantwell’s post office opened in 1924, and the census of 1940 counted 17 people here.

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), 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.