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History · Chitina

Chitina’s post office opened in 1910, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Chitina was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listings are the Chitina Tin Shop and the Copper River and Northwestern Railway Bunkhouse and Messhouse. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1920.

1910first post office
2on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chitina’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chitina began

When was Chitina founded?

1910

The Chitina post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Strelna (1912), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 171 in 19202020 census: 101116 years
Founding year: the first Chitina post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Chitina’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 1940 and 1960, then grew 3-fold.
★ What stands out · People over time

Chitina, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020176 in 1940Low: 31

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1940 and 1960, then grew 3-fold.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Chitina came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chitina.

Read it all →

Athabascans have lived in the area around Chitina for centuries as evidenced by the archaeological sites south and east of Chitina. Before 1900, Chitina was the site of large village whose population was slowly decimated by the influx of people, disease and conflicts.

Copper ore was discovered in about 1900 along the northern edge of the Chitina River valley. This brought a rush of prospectors and homesteaders to the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chitina, 1910 to 1951

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910Post officeThe Chitina post office opens
  3. 1912Post officeThe Strelna post office opens
  4. 1914In the archiveBuildings in Chitina, Alaska including Hotel Chitina and Copper River and Northwestern Ra…
  5. 1920In the archiveMining equipment and workers on Bear Creek Bridge near Chitina, Alaska, 1920s
  6. 1925Post officeThe Strelna post office closes
  7. 1933In the archiveCHITINA BAR - Town of Chitina, Chitina, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, AK
  8. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 176
  9. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Chitina, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1920s5 items
Buildings in Chitina, Alaska including Hotel Chitina and Copper River and Northwestern Railway Depot, between 1909 and …c. 1914Buildings in Chitina, Alaska including Hotel Chitina …Main street of Chitina, Alaska, looking toward the Copper River, circa 1914c. 1914Main street of Chitina, Alaska, looking toward the Co…Private train for Alaska Engineering Commissioner Lt. Frederick Mears at railway depot in Chitina, Alaska, September 19…1914Private train for Alaska Engineering Commissioner Lt.…Two men and dog on main street of Chitina, Alaska, circa 1914c. 1914Two men and dog on main street of Chitina, Alaska, ci…Mining equipment and workers on Bear Creek Bridge near Chitina, Alaska, 1920s1920Mining equipment and workers on Bear Creek Bridge nea…
1930s1 item
CHITINA BAR - Town of Chitina, Chitina, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, AK1933CHITINA BAR - Town of Chitina, Chitina, Valdez-Cordov…
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

Chitina on the map, 1951 to 1996

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

Chitina on the 1951 USGS mapChitina on the 1996 USGS map1951Valdez C-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 Chitina.

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.

Buildings in Chitina, Alaska including Hotel Chitina and Copper River and Northwestern Railway Depot, between 1909 and …
Retake this viewBuildings in Chitina, Alaska including Hotel Chitina and Copper River and Northwestern Railway Depot, between 1909 and …, c. 1914

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Chitina

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Chitina Tin Shop
Chitina Tin ShopCopper River and Northwestern Railway Bunkhouse and Messhouse
Buildings
Chitina Tin ShopBuilding
All 2 listings
Copper River and Northwestern Railway Bunkhouse and MesshouseBuilding · listed 2002

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Chitina’s post office has been open since 1910. Another post office, Strelna, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Chitina
1910–today
Strelna
1912–1925
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Strelna

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

Help out

Finish Chitina’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBuildings in Chitina, Alaska including …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Chitina’s history

What year was Chitina founded?

The Chitina post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Chitina?

Two places: the Chitina Tin Shop (listed 1979) and the Copper River and Northwestern Railway Bunkhouse and Messhouse (2002).

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 (2), 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.