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History · Kake

Kake’s post office opened in 1904, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Kake was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them the Kake Cannery, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 15 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers from 1905 on.

1904first post office
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Kake began

When was Kake founded?

1904

The Kake post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1951.

2020 census: 543122 years
Founding year: the first Kake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1951.The full story ↓

What stands out about Kake’s past

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

A National Historic Landmark1 place on the National Register, including Kake Cannery, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 15 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmark
1
Kake Cannery
historic buildings protected
15
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Kake Cannery
Kake Cannery★
Districts★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Early 20th Century Coastal Industrial1
★ Landmark
Kake CanneryEarly 20th Century Coastal Industrial

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

The story

How Kake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kake.

Read it all →

The region of Kake has been inhabited by the Ḵéex̱ʼ Kwáan of Tlingit Indigenous people for thousands of years.

The Tlingit of the Kake region gained a reputation among early European and American explorers of being strong and powerful. Some conflicts with early explorers have been documented by historians. Some scholars believe the first explorer to enter Tlingit lands was the Briton Francis Drake, who traveled to the area near present-day Kake in 1579, although other scholars dispute this theory.

ChaptersPrior to Alaska PurchaseAfter Alaska Purchase

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kake, 1904 to 1997

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Kake post office opens
  3. 1905In the archiveTotem poles, Kake, Alaska, circa 1905
  4. 1910In the archiveTwo women standing by totem poles, Kake, Alaska, between 1910 and 1913
  5. 1991In the archiveAFE-a
  6. 1997LandmarkKake Cannery named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Kake, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s4 items
Totem poles, Kake, Alaska, circa 1905c. 1905Totem poles, Kake, Alaska, circa 1905Native woman with infant, Kake, Alaska, circa 1906c. 1906Native woman with infant, Kake, Alaska, circa 1906Two women standing by totem poles, Kake, Alaska, between 1910 and 19131910Two women standing by totem poles, Kake, Alaska, betw…Totem pole, Kake, Alaska, circa 1913c. 1913Totem pole, Kake, Alaska, circa 1913
1920s–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
AFE-a1991AFE-a
Today1 recent
Kake Kuprenof 382009Kake Kuprenof 38
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.

Totem poles, Kake, Alaska, circa 1905
Retake this viewTotem poles, Kake, Alaska, circa 1905, c. 1905

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

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Kake’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 viewTotem poles, Kake, Alaska, circa 1905: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Kake’s history

What year was Kake founded?

The Kake post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1951.

What is on the National Register in Kake?

One place: the Kake Cannery (listed 1997).

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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.