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History · Ekwok

Ekwok was first counted by the census in 1930

Most of Ekwok was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1930.

1930first census
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ekwok’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ekwok began

When was Ekwok founded?

1930

Ekwok first appears in the census in 1930. Another post office, Ekwak (1935), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 40 in 19302020 census: 11196 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Ekwok’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 Ekwok’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ekwok’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. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Ekwok came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ekwok.

Read it all →

Ekwok means "end of the bluff" (river's edge) in Yupik, from iquk ("end"). It is the oldest continuously occupied Yupik village on the Nushagak River. During the 1800s, the settlement was used in the spring and summer as a fish camp, and in the fall as a base camp for picking berries. By 1923, it was the largest settlement along the river.

From the early 1900s until 1941, mail was delivered by dog sled from Dillingham. In 1941 a post office opened in Ekwok. Before 1960, most of the buildings in Ekwok were located in a low area near the river. After a flood in the early 1960s, the village was relocated to its current location.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ekwok, 1935 to 1966

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1935Post officeThe Ekwak post office opens
  3. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1966Post officeThe Ekwak post office closes
  5. 1966Post officeThe Ekwok post office opens
By decade

Ekwok, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox ChurchDate?St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church
Today1 recent
June, 2011 Engaging with Bristol Bay's tribal communities2011June, 2011 Engaging with Bristol Bay's tribal communi…
On the map

Ekwok on the map in 1954

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

Ekwok on the 1954 USGS map1954Dillingham B-4 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 Ekwok.

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. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church
Retake this viewSt. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ekwok, census by census

010019401960198020002020Peak: 131

Between 40 and 131 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Ekwok’s post office has been open since 1966. Another post office, Ekwak, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ekwak
1935–1966
Ekwok
1966–today
19301980today

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

Questions about Ekwok’s history

What year was Ekwok founded?

The Ekwok post office opened in 1930, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1974.

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 (1), the Library of Congress (1), 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.