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History · Hydaburg

Hydaburg’s post office opened in 1912, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Hydaburg was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 1920.

1912first post office
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hydaburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hydaburg began

When was Hydaburg founded?

1912

The Hydaburg post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1927.

First census: 346 in 19202020 census: 380114 years
Founding year: the first Hydaburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1927.The full story ↓
The story

How Hydaburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hydaburg.

Read it all →

Hydaburg was formed in 1911 by consolidation of the three Haida villages on Cordova Bay. These villages were Howkan on the west coast of Long Island, Sukkwan at the northern end of Sukkwan Island, across Sukkwan Strait from Hydaburg, and Klinkwan on Prince of Wales Island at the mouth of Hunter Bay. The location was chosen because it had a reliable water supply. The town was incorporated in 1927. The Hydaburg Cooperative Association was established in 1938 shortly after the Indian Reorganization Act was extended to Alaska in 1936, supplanting the municipal government. It was the first IRA-recognized Village Council in Alaska. Residents petitioned to be granted an Indian Reservation as a way of securing their rights to the surrounding land. The area had previously been designated as the Hydaburg Indian Reservation from 1912 to 1926 but had been returned to the Tongass National Forest…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hydaburg, 1887 to 1948

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887In the archiveBoy sitting in front of two totem poles at Howkan (now Hydaburg), 1887
  3. 1899In the archiveFMIB 38747 Indian Grave and Totems, Klinkwan
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archiveSchoolhouse
  6. 1912In the archiveHydah Indian Reservation EO 1555 illustration
  7. 1912Post officeThe Hydaburg post office opens
  8. 1932In the archiveHydaburg, AK: Map of Hydaburg Townsite Alaska U.S. Survey No. 1570
  9. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hydaburg, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s6 items
Boy sitting in front of two totem poles at Howkan (now Hydaburg), 18871887Boy sitting in front of two totem poles at Howkan (no…FMIB 38747 Indian Grave and Totems, Klinkwan1899FMIB 38747 Indian Grave and Totems, KlinkwanSchoolhouse1900SchoolhouseTotem pole1900Totem poleSchool children1900School childrenSchool children1900School children
1910s–1930s5 items
Hydah Indian Reservation EO 1555 illustration1912Hydah Indian Reservation EO 1555 illustrationHydaburg native school. April, 19141914Hydaburg native school. April, 1914Hydaburg from the water, ca. 1915c. 1915Hydaburg from the water, ca. 1915Native home1916Native homeHydaburg, AK: Map of Hydaburg Townsite Alaska U.S. Survey No. 15701932Hydaburg, AK: Map of Hydaburg Townsite Alaska U.S. Su…Map
1940s–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
Today1 recent
Aian akc. 2000Aian akBook
On the map

Hydaburg on the map, 1948 to 1997

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

Hydaburg on the 1948 USGS mapHydaburg on the 1951 USGS mapHydaburg on the 1997 USGS map1948Craig 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 Hydaburg.

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.

Boy sitting in front of two totem poles at Howkan (now Hydaburg), 1887
Retake this viewBoy sitting in front of two totem poles at Howkan (now Hydaburg), 1887, 1887

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hydaburg

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2006
Hydaburg Totem Park
Hydaburg Totem Park
Districts
Hydaburg Totem ParkDistrict

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Hydaburg, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 384

Between 214 and 384 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Hydaburg’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBoy sitting in front of two totem poles…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Hydaburg’s history

What year was Hydaburg founded?

The Hydaburg post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1927.

What is on the National Register in Hydaburg?

One place: the Hydaburg Totem Park (listed 2006).

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 (7), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (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.