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History · False Pass

False Pass’ post office opened in 1921

Most of False Pass was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1930.

1921first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From False Pass’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How False Pass began

When was False Pass founded?

1921

The False Pass post office opened in 1921, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1990.

First census: 59 in 19302020 census: 397105 years
Founding year: the first False Pass post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1990.The full story ↓

What stands out about False Pass’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1940 and 2010, then grew more than tenfold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start False Pass’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFalsepass ak plat1588peharris1926: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

False Pass, census by census

01002003004001940196019802000202088 in 1940Low: 35

Lost half of its people between 1940 and 2010, then grew more than tenfold.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story

How False Pass came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of False Pass.

Read it all →

False Pass is an early English name for Isanotski Strait on which the city of False Pass is located. The strait was called "False Pass" because it was thought to be impassable for deep draft vessels at the northern end. A salmon cannery was built on the Unimak Island side of the strait in 1919 which provided the nucleus for the modern settlement. A U.S. post office with the name of False Pass was established in 1921 which gave official status to the community.

Commercial fishing for salmon, cod, halibut and crab continues to be the core of the community's lifestyle and economy.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

False Pass, 1921 to 2020

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1921Post officeThe False Pass post office opens
  3. 1926In the archiveFalsepass ak plat1588peharris1926
  4. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1950Post officeThe Ikatan post office opens
  6. 1957Post officeThe Ikatan post office closes
  7. 1998In the archiveRoundtopVolcano
  8. 21st century
  9. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 397
By decade

False Pass, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Falsepass ak plat1588peharris19261926Falsepass ak plat1588peharris1926
1930s–1980snothing 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
1990s1 item
RoundtopVolcano1998RoundtopVolcano
Today10 recent
Falsepass ak school roundtop20082007Falsepass ak school roundtop2008Falsepass ak postoffice citybldg20072007Falsepass ak postoffice citybldg2007Falsepass ak peterpansfds roundtop20072007Falsepass ak peterpansfds roundtop2007Falsepass ak clinic publicsafetybldg20072007Falsepass ak clinic publicsafetybldg2007Falsepass ak nicholasmichaelseiner2006Falsepass ak nicholasmichaelseinerFalsepass ak CoastalSea-WesternDawn2006Falsepass ak CoastalSea-WesternDawnFalsepass ak tustamena2005Falsepass ak tustamenaFalsepass ak SharonJeanWarjackAmandaDawn2005Falsepass ak SharonJeanWarjackAmandaDawnCityfalsepassboundaries2005CityfalsepassboundariesFalsepass ak peterpanstore dock20042004Falsepass ak peterpanstore dock2004
On the map

False Pass on the map, 1949 to 1995

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

False Pass on the 1949 USGS mapFalse Pass on the 1950 USGS mapFalse Pass on the 1995 USGS map1949False Pass sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of False Pass.

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.

Falsepass ak plat1588peharris1926
Retake this viewFalsepass ak plat1588peharris1926, 1926

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

False Pass’s post office has been open since 1921. Another post office, Ikatan, opened and closed inside today’s town.

False Pass
1921–today
Ikatan
1950–1957
19201970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
IkatanMorzhovoi
1cemetery inside False Pass
False Pass

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

Questions about False Pass’ history

What year was False Pass founded?

The False Pass post office opened in 1921, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1990.

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 (12), 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.