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History · Chisana

Chisana’s post office opened in 1913, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 20 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1960 on, and the census since 1920.

1913first post office
1on the National Register
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chisana’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chisana began

When was Chisana founded?

1913

The Chisana post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 148 in 1920113 years
Founding year: the first Chisana post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Chisana’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1920 and 1930, then more than doubled.A historic districtThe Chisana Historic District takes in 20 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · People over time

Chisana, census by census

010019201940148 in 1920Low: 13

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1920 and 1930, then more than doubled.

3 censuses, 1920–1940.

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

On the National Register

1 listing protects 20 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
20
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Chisana Historic District
Chisana Historic District
Districts
Chisana Historic DistrictDistrict

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

The story so far

Chisana, in brief

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

Chisana (also Shushanna) (Tsetsaan' Na in Ahtna) is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Copper River Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, Chisana had a population of 0. The English name Chisana derives from the Ahtna Athabascan name Tsetsaan' Na, meaning literally 'copper river' (not to be confused with the river known in English as the Copper River). The Chisana River joins the Nabesna River just north of Northway Junction, Alaska, to form the Tanana River, a major tributary of the Yukon River. The Chisana Airport consists of a turf and gravel runway which is largely serviced by flights from Tok, Alaska. In 1985, the community was listed as Chisana Historic Di…

Its first post office opened in 1913.

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

Timeline

Chisana, 1913 to 1960

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1913Post officeThe Chisana post office opens
  3. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 148
  4. 1933In the archiveAERIAL VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH - Town of Chisana, Chisana, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, AK
  5. 1938Post officeThe Chisana post office closes
  6. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Chisana, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
AERIAL VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH - Town of Chisana, Chisana, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, AK1933AERIAL VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH - Town of Chisana, Chisana…AERIAL VIEW, LOOKING SOUTHWEST - Town of Chisana, Chisana, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, AK1933AERIAL VIEW, LOOKING SOUTHWEST - Town of Chisana, Chi…HABS AK,20-CHIS.V,1- (sheet 1 of 1) - Chisana Trail Cabins, Chisana, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, AK1933HABS AK,20-CHIS.V,1- (sheet 1 of 1) - Chisana Trail C…HABS AK,20-CHIS.V,1- (sheet 1 of 1) - Chisana Trail Cabins, Chisana, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, AK1933HABS AK,20-CHIS.V,1- (sheet 1 of 1) - Chisana Trail C…HABS AK,20-CHIS.V,1-A- (sheet 1 of 1) - Chisana Trail, Solo Mountain Shelter Cabin, Chisana, Valdez-Cordova Census Area…1933HABS AK,20-CHIS.V,1-A- (sheet 1 of 1) - Chisana Trail…HABS AK,20-CHIS.V,1-A- (sheet 1 of 1) - Chisana Trail, Solo Mountain Shelter Cabin, Chisana, Valdez-Cordova Census Area…1933HABS AK,20-CHIS.V,1-A- (sheet 1 of 1) - Chisana Trail…
1940s–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

Chisana on the map in 1960

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

Chisana on the 1960 USGS map1960Nabesna A-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 Chisana.

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.

AERIAL VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH - Town of Chisana, Chisana, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, AK
Retake this viewAERIAL VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH - Town of Chisana, Chisana, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, AK, 1933

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Chisana had its own post office from 1913 to 1938.

Chisana
1913–1938
19101970today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Chisana’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAERIAL VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH - Town of Ch…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Chisana’s history

What year was Chisana founded?

The Chisana post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Chisana?

One place: the Chisana Historic District (listed 1985).

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.