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History · Kaktovik

Kaktovik was first counted by the census in 1950

Most of Kaktovik was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1950.

1950first census
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kaktovik’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kaktovik began

When was Kaktovik founded?

1950

Kaktovik first appears in the census in 1950.

First census: 46 in 19502020 census: 28376 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Kaktovik’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kaktovik’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kaktovik’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 viewBTI-a: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Kaktovik came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kaktovik.

Read it all →

Until the late nineteenth century, Barter Island was a major trade center for the Inupiat and was especially important as a bartering place for Inupiat from Alaska and Inuit from Canada.

Kaktovik was a traditional fishing place—Kaktovik means "Place to Seine Greyling Whitefish"—that has a large pond of good fresh water on high ground. It had no permanent settlers until people from other parts of Barter Island and northern Alaska moved to the area around the construction of a runway and Distant Early Warning Line station in the 1950s. The area was incorporated as the City of Kaktovik in 1971.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kaktovik, 1955 to 1998

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1955Post officeThe Kaktovik post office opens
  3. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1998In the archiveBTI-a
By decade

Kaktovik, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
BTI-a1998BTI-a
Today11 recent
Village of2018Village ofPolar bear family at bone pile near2016Polar bear family at bone pile nearMaktak2014MaktakKaktovik Alaska dew line site2013Kaktovik Alaska dew line siteHistoric black and white photo of first arctic national wildlife refuge headquaters in2013Historic black and white photo of first arctic nation…Barter island village2013Barter island villagePolar bear in2011Polar bear inPolar Bear - Alaska2007Polar Bear - AlaskaPolar Bear - Alaska (cropped)2007Polar Bear - Alaska (cropped)Ours polaire2007Ours polaireMale polar bear near2005Male polar bear near
On the map

Kaktovik on the map in 1955

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

Kaktovik on the 1955 USGS map1955Barter Island A-5 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 Kaktovik.

People over time

Kaktovik, census by census

01002003001960198020002020Peak: 293

Between 46 and 293 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Kaktovik’s post office has been open since 1955.

Gone or out of use
Kaktuwinglocale

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

Questions about Kaktovik’s history

What year was Kaktovik founded?

The Kaktovik post office opened in 1950, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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.