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C−History
History · Chena Ridge

2 of Chena Ridge’s places are on the National Register

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #18 of 41 in Alaska. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Chena Pump House and the Chena Building. Most of Chena Ridge was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1949 on.

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

About Chena Ridge’s history

How historic is Chena Ridge?

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More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Chena Ridge’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chena Ridge is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #18 of 41 in Alaska. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chena Ridge’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.6) · typical AK town 0.3% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register2 listings, 3.4 per 10,000 residents · typical AK town 3.3 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Alaska towns of 2,500+ (41)Ahead of 58%

Alaska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Alaska town has 3.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Chena Ridge’s 3.4 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Alaska towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Chena Ridge’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 Chena Ridge’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewVIEW OF FAIRBANKS, SOUTHWEST, INCLUDING…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Chena Ridge, in brief

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

Chena Ridge (Lower Tanana: Khotughee'oden) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is the location of the former city (1903–73) of Chena, now a ghost town that once rivaled nearby Fairbanks in importance. One of the new CDPs created in 2010 in Alaska, Chena Ridge is now a western suburb of Fairbanks, located between the George Parks Highway and the Tanana River. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 6,015, up from 5,791 in 2010. Chena Ridge is the ninth-most populated CDP in Alaska.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 5,791 to 6,015 (+4%).

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

Timeline

Chena Ridge, 1949 to 1982

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1949Post officeThe Bartlett post office opens
  3. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1958Post officeThe Bartlett post office closes
  5. 1973In the archiveVIEW OF FAIRBANKS, SOUTHWEST, INCLUDING THE MAIN CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, FAIR…
  6. 1982In the archiveAlaska House Representative Niilo E. Koponen 1982
By decade

Chena Ridge, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1970s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s–1980s2 items
VIEW OF FAIRBANKS, SOUTHWEST, INCLUDING THE MAIN CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, FAIRBANKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...…1973VIEW OF FAIRBANKS, SOUTHWEST, INCLUDING THE MAIN CAMP…Alaska House Representative Niilo E. Koponen 19821982Alaska House Representative Niilo E. Koponen 1982
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
Unique planter2014Unique planterOur train-based bed and breakfast2014Our train-based bed and breakfastA sad crow-type figure2014A sad crow-type figureChena Marina Airport outside of Fairbanks, Alaska2012Chena Marina Airport outside of Fairbanks, Alaska
On the map

Chena Ridge on the map, 1949 to 1992

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

Chena Ridge on the 1949 USGS mapChena Ridge on the 1950 USGS mapChena Ridge on the 1972 USGS mapChena Ridge on the 1992 USGS map1949Fairbanks D-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 Chena Ridge.

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.

VIEW OF FAIRBANKS, SOUTHWEST, INCLUDING THE MAIN CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, FAIRBANKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...…
Retake this viewVIEW OF FAIRBANKS, SOUTHWEST, INCLUDING THE MAIN CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, FAIRBANKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...…, 1973

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Chena Ridge

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Chena Pump House
Chena Pump HouseChena Building
Buildings
Chena Pump HouseBuilding
All 2 listings
Chena BuildingBuilding · listed 2024

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Chena Ridge

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

See all →
Bill WalkerAmerican attorney and politician · b. 1951
A
Alex HallAmerican freestyle skier · b. 1998
Vivica GenauxAmerican opera singer · b. 1969
D
David A. GregoryAmerican actor · b. 1985
Brody HutzlerAmerican actor · b. 1971
P
Pheonix CopleyAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1992
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Chena
Gone or out of use
Bartlettlocale

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.

Ester1 historic placeC−College4 historic placesC−South Van HornIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Chena Ridge’s history

How does Chena Ridge rank for history?

Chena Ridge is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #18 of 41 in Alaska. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Chena Ridge?

Two places: the Chena Pump House (listed 1982) and the Chena Building (2024).

How old are the homes in Chena Ridge?

0.0% of Chena Ridge’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.3% for an Alaska town; the median home was built in 1998.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.