Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to King Cove

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · King Cove

King Cove’s post office opened in 1914

Most of King Cove was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1983 on, and the census since 1940.

1914first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From King Cove’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How King Cove began

When was King Cove founded?

1914

The King Cove post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1949.

First census: 135 in 19402020 census: 757112 years
Founding year: the first King Cove post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1949.

What stands out about King Cove’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 King Cove’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewKings Cove, Alaska on the Alaskan Penin…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

King Cove, in brief

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

King Cove (Aleut: Agdaaĝux̂) is a city in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 938, up from 792 in 2000, but at the 2020 census this had reduced to 757.

Its first post office opened in 1914. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 938 to 757 (-19%).

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

Timeline

King Cove, 1911 to 1983

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1911In the archiveKings Cove, Alaska on the Alaskan Peninsula, between 1911 and 1913
  3. 1914Post officeThe King Cove post office opens
  4. 1983On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

King Cove, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s3 items
Kings Cove, Alaska on the Alaskan Peninsula, between 1911 and 19131911Kings Cove, Alaska on the Alaskan Peninsula, between …Pacific American Fisheries cannery ship KENMORE, King Cove, Alaska, May 19121912Pacific American Fisheries cannery ship KENMORE, King…Pacific American Fisheries cannery, King Cove, ca. 1912c. 1912Pacific American Fisheries cannery, King Cove, ca. 19…
1920s–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
Date unknown1 to date
St. Herman Russian Orthodox ChurchDate?St. Herman Russian Orthodox Church
Today6 recent
Untitled photo2021Untitled photoUntitled photo2021Untitled photoALEUTIAN EXPRESS at King Cove Alaska 7 13 2016 202016ALEUTIAN EXPRESS at King Cove Alaska 7 13 2016 20C130 overflight of FV The Capt'n Andrew DVIDS11009332011C130 overflight of FV The Capt'n Andrew DVIDS1100933Airsta Kodiak C130 medevacs King Cove child-Call 110407-G-RS249-5922011Airsta Kodiak C130 medevacs King Cove child-Call 1104…AKMap-doton-KingCove2004AKMap-doton-KingCove
On the map

King Cove on the map in 1983

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of King Cove.

King Cove on the 1983 USGS map1983Cold Bay A-1 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 King Cove.

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.

Kings Cove, Alaska on the Alaskan Peninsula, between 1911 and 1913
Retake this viewKings Cove, Alaska on the Alaskan Peninsula, between 1911 and 1913, 1911

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

King Cove, census by census

02004006008001,00019401960198020002020Peak: 938

Between 135 and 938 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Questions about King Cove’s history

What year was King Cove founded?

The King Cove post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1949.

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 (9), the Library of Congress (1), 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.