Most of Dillingham was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listing is the Pilgrim 100B Aircraft. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1977 on.
The Dillingham post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1963. Two smaller post offices, Nushagak (1899) and Kanakanak (1929), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
2020 census: 2,249122 years
How historic is Dillingham?
C−
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Dillingham post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1963.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Dillingham’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dillingham is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dillingham’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 Dillingham’s 4.7 sits near the middle of its state (65% of Alaska towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1963.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Dillingham’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Dillingham and its surrounding areas were inhabited by the Yup'ik people for millennia, who lived off of the land and sea. British Navy Captain James Cook first charted the Bristol Bay region in 1778, but did not venture into Nushagak Bay. The Russian-American Company built a redoubt (trading post) at Nushagak Point, across the river from present-day Dillingham, in 1818; named "Alexandrovski" after the czar, the post attracted fur traders from as far as the Kuskokwim River, the Alaska Peninsula, and Cook Inlet. In 1837, a Russian Orthodox mission was built at Nushagak, but the post's status was later downgraded in favor of other Russian-American Company posts in the Kuskokwim. In 1881, after the Alaska Purchase by the United States, the U.S. Signal Corps built a weather station at Nushagak.
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.
The Dillingham post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1963.
How does Dillingham rank for history?
Dillingham is more historic than 17% 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.
What is on the National Register in Dillingham?
One place: the Pilgrim 100B Aircraft (listed 1986).
How old are the homes in Dillingham?
0.9% of Dillingham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.3% for an Alaska town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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