Most of Deltana was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 2000.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Deltana is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Deltana’s overall grade.
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 Deltana’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Alaska towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±1.6 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 Deltana’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1904, the U.S. Army Signal Corps built the McCarty Telegraph station on a site near a roadhouse established the previous year at the confluence of the Tanana and Delta rivers. The Chisana gold strike of 1913 brought many hopeful prospectors to the area. In the 1920s, many American bison were brought to the area, and in 1927, the name was changed to Buffalo Center.
In 1942, five miles south of Deltana, Fort Greely was constructed. Beef cattle were shipped during the 1950s, and during the 1970s, the local economy was given another boost with the completion of the trans-Alaska pipeline.
In 1980, 70,000 acres (280 km2) of land were set aside as the Delta Bison Range to confine the bison and separate the expanding herd from local farmland.
Deltana is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Deltana?
1% of Deltana’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 0.3% for an Alaska town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 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.
