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–Not graded
History · Chignik

Chignik’s post office opened in 1901

Most of Chignik was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1963 on, and the census since 1940.

1901first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chignik’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chignik began

When was Chignik founded?

1901

The Chignik post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 224 in 19402020 census: 97125 years
Founding year: the first Chignik post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Chignik’s past

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

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1899–1912.
★ What stands out · By decade

Chignik, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s6 items
FMIB 38716 Fish Scow at Dock1899FMIB 38716 Fish Scow at DockFMIB 38727 Transport Ship at1899FMIB 38727 Transport Ship atFMIB 38733 Stern-Wheel Steamer Used in Towing Fishing Boats and Setting Nets1899FMIB 38733 Stern-Wheel Steamer Used in Towing Fishing…FMIB 38816 Pound Net in Chignik Bay1899FMIB 38816 Pound Net in Chignik BayFMIB 38817 Chignik Lagoon Trap1899FMIB 38817 Chignik Lagoon TrapFMIB 38833 A P A Cannery at Chignik Bay1899FMIB 38833 A P A Cannery at Chignik Bay
1900s–1910s12 items
Chignik Cannery, Chignik, Alaska, between 1907 and 19151907Chignik Cannery, Chignik, Alaska, between 1907 and 19…Chignik, Alaska, between 1905 and 1915c. 1910Chignik, Alaska, between 1905 and 1915View of Chignik, ca. 1910c. 1910View of Chignik, ca. 1910Wreck of the salmon cannery ship JABEZ HOWES, Chignik, 19111911Wreck of the salmon cannery ship JABEZ HOWES, Chignik…Wreck of the salmon cannery ship JABEZ HOWES, Chignik, 19111911Wreck of the salmon cannery ship JABEZ HOWES, Chignik…Wreck of the salmon cannery ship JABEZ HOWES, Chignik, 19111911Wreck of the salmon cannery ship JABEZ HOWES, Chignik…Wreck of the salmon cannery ship JABEZ HOWES, Chignik, 19111911Wreck of the salmon cannery ship JABEZ HOWES, Chignik…Wreck of the salmon cannery ship JABEZ HOWES, Chignik, 19111911Wreck of the salmon cannery ship JABEZ HOWES, Chignik…Chignik, bird's-eye view , ca. 1912c. 1912Chignik, bird's-eye view , ca. 1912Columbia River Packing Association cannery, Chignik, ca. 1912c. 1912Columbia River Packing Association cannery, Chignik, …Looking back from ship to Chignik and hills, ca. 1912c. 1912Looking back from ship to Chignik and hills, ca. 1912Native couple, Chignik, ca. 1912c. 1912Native couple, Chignik, ca. 1912
1920s–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
The story

How Chignik came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chignik.

Read it all →

On April 17, 1911, a gale blew ashore numerous ships such as the Benjamin F. Packard, the Star of Alaska, and the Jabez Howes, a three-masted, full-rigged ship owned by the Columbia River Packers Association and used as a cannery tender.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chignik, 1899 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1899In the archiveFMIB 38716 Fish Scow at Dock
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Post officeThe Chignik post office opens
  5. 1907In the archiveChignik Cannery, Chignik, Alaska, between 1907 and 1915
  6. 1910In the archiveChignik, Alaska, between 1905 and 1915
  7. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Chignik on the map in 1963

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

Chignik on the 1963 USGS map1963Chignik B-2 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 Chignik.

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.

FMIB 38716 Fish Scow at Dock
Retake this viewFMIB 38716 Fish Scow at Dock, 1899

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Chignik, census by census

010020019401960198020002020Peak: 253

Between 79 and 253 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Chignik’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFMIB 38716 Fish Scow at Dock: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Chignik LagoonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Chignik’s history

What year was Chignik founded?

The Chignik post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (18), 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.