1 of Knik-Fairview’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #22 of 41 in Alaska. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Knik Site. Most of Knik-Fairview was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1910.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Knik-Fairview is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #22 of 41 in Alaska. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Knik-Fairview’s overall grade.
Alaska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Alaska town has 3.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Knik-Fairview’s 1.0 sits near the middle of its state (51% of Alaska towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Knik-Fairview’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1910 and 1980, then grew more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Knik-Fairview’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Knik-Fairview, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Knik-Fairview yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Knik-Fairview is a census-designated place (CDP) in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Anchorage, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 census the population was 19,297, up from 14,923 in 2010. It is the most populated CDP in Alaska.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 14,923 to 19,297 (+29%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Knik-Fairview, 1904 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Knik-Fairview. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1951Anchorage sheet · 1:250,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Knik-Fairview.
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.
Retake this viewBoats at waterfront of village of Knik, Alaska, June 1914, 1914
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Knik-Fairview’s page.
Knik-Fairview is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #22 of 41 in Alaska. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Knik-Fairview?
One place: the Knik Site (listed 1973).
How old are the homes in Knik-Fairview?
0.0% of Knik-Fairview’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.3% for an Alaska town; the median home was built in 2003.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (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.
1933
1933
2011
2011
