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History · Gulkana

Half of Gulkana’s homes were built after 1995

Most of Gulkana was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1940.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gulkana’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Gulkana’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gulkana’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBridge across Gulkana River near Gulkan…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Gulkana, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Gulkana yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Gulkana (C'uul C'ena' in Ahtna Athabascan) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Copper River Census Area, Alaska, U.S. At the 2020 census the population was 110, down from 119 in 2010. It also has an airport.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 119 to 110 (-8%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Gulkana, 1914 to 1949

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1914In the archiveBridge across Gulkana River near Gulkana, Alaska, 1914
  3. 1934In the archiveAlaska - Gulkana through Harding Lake
  4. 1941In the archiveAlaska - Gulkana through Harding Lake
  5. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Gulkana, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1940s4 items
Bridge across Gulkana River near Gulkana, Alaska, 19141914Bridge across Gulkana River near Gulkana, Alaska, 1914Alaska - Gulkana through Harding Lake1934Alaska - Gulkana through Harding LakeAlaska - Gulkana through Harding Lake1935Alaska - Gulkana through Harding LakeAlaska - Gulkana through Harding Lake1941Alaska - Gulkana through Harding Lake
1950s–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
On the map

Gulkana on the map, 1949 to 1952

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

Gulkana on the 1949 USGS mapGulkana on the 1952 USGS map1949Gulkana A-3 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 Gulkana.

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.

Bridge across Gulkana River near Gulkana, Alaska, 1914
Retake this viewBridge across Gulkana River near Gulkana, Alaska, 1914, 1914

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Gulkana, census by census

010019401960198020002020Peak: 119

Between 25 and 119 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

GlennallenIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGakona2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Gulkana’s history

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 (4), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.