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History · Gambell

Gambell’s post office opened in 1939

Most of Gambell was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 1910.

1939first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gambell’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Gambell began

When was Gambell founded?

1939

The Gambell post office opened in 1939, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1963.

First census: 221 in 19102020 census: 64087 years
Founding year: the first Gambell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1963.The full story ↓

What stands out about Gambell’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.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1910 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gambell’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGambell Nygren 1960: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Gambell, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020221 in 1910Low: 48

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1910 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Gambell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gambell.

Read it all →

Sivuqaq is the Yupik language name for St. Lawrence Island and for Gambell. It has also been called Chibuchack and Sevuokok.

St. Lawrence Island has been inhabited sporadically for the past 2,000 years by both Alaskan Yup'ik and Siberian Yupik people. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the island had a population of about 4,000.

Between 1878 and 1880 a famine decimated the island's population. Many who did not starve left. The remaining population of St. Lawrence Island was nearly all Siberian Yupik.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gambell, 1906 to 2010

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Born hereFlorence Nupok Malewotkuk is born here
  3. 1939Post officeThe Gambell post office opens
  4. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1960In the archiveGambell Nygren 1960
  6. 1960Born hereSusie Silook is born here
  7. 21st century
  8. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 681
By decade

Gambell, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s1 item
Gambell Nygren 19601960Gambell Nygren 1960
1970s–1990snothing 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
Today5 recent
Aethia pusilla - Robert Webster2001Aethia pusilla - Robert WebsterAethia pusilla - Robert Webster2001Aethia pusilla - Robert WebsterAethia pusilla - Robert Webster2001Aethia pusilla - Robert WebsterAethia pusilla - Robert Webster2001Aethia pusilla - Robert WebsterAethia pusilla - Robert Webster2001Aethia pusilla - Robert Webster
On the map

Gambell on the map in 1948

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

Gambell on the 1948 USGS map1948St Lawrence 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 Gambell.

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.

Gambell Nygren 1960
Retake this viewGambell Nygren 1960, 1960

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Gambell

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
F
Florence Nupok MalewotkukSiberian Yup'ik illustrator and painter · b. 1906
S
Susie SilookNative American sculptor · b. 1960

Questions about Gambell’s history

What year was Gambell founded?

The Gambell post office opened in 1939, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1963.

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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.