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History · Chuathbaluk

Chuathbaluk was first counted by the census in 1970, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Chuathbaluk was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Its Register listing is the St. Sergius Chapel. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1970.

1970first census
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chuathbaluk’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chuathbaluk began

When was Chuathbaluk founded?

1970

Chuathbaluk first appears in the census in 1970.

First census: 94 in 19702020 census: 10456 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Chuathbaluk’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chuathbaluk’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewSt. Sergius of Radonezh Russian Orthodo…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Chuathbaluk came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chuathbaluk.

Read it all →

During the 19th century, Deg Hit'an Athabascan people had summer fish camps in the area. The Russian Orthodox Church built the St. Sergius Mission by 1894, and residents of Kukuktuk from 20 miles (32 km) downriver moved to the mission.

Once established, village has been called Chukbak, St. Sergius Mission, Kuskokwim Russian Mission, and Little Russian Mission. The village was often confused with Russian Mission on the Yukon, so in the 1960s the name was changed to Chuathbaluk, which is derived from the Yup'ik word Curapalek, meaning "the hills where the big blueberries grow."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Chuathbaluk, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
St. Sergius of Radonezh Russian Orthodox ChurchDate?St. Sergius of Radonezh Russian Orthodox Church
On the map

Chuathbaluk on the map in 1952

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

Chuathbaluk on the 1952 USGS map1952Russian Mission C-1 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 Chuathbaluk.

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.

St. Sergius of Radonezh Russian Orthodox Church
Retake this viewSt. Sergius of Radonezh Russian Orthodox Church

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Chuathbaluk

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
St. Sergius Chapel
St. Sergius Chapel
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Russian Mission1
St. Sergius ChapelRussian Mission

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

People over time

Chuathbaluk, census by census

0100198020002020Peak: 119

Between 94 and 119 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Questions about Chuathbaluk’s history

What year was Chuathbaluk founded?

The Chuathbaluk post office opened in 1970, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1975.

What is on the National Register in Chuathbaluk?

One place: the St. Sergius Chapel (listed 1980).

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 the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.