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History · Kobuk

Kobuk dates to 1899

Most of Kobuk was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1910.

1899founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kobuk’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kobuk began

When was Kobuk founded?

1899

Kobuk dates its founding to 1899 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 210 in 19102020 census: 191127 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1928.The full story ↓

What stands out about Kobuk’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.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1910 and 1940, then grew 6-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kobuk’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 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 viewShelter Cabin Nos. 1 & 2, Noatak, North…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Kobuk, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020210 in 1910Low: 31

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1910 and 1940, then grew 6-fold.

11 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Kobuk came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kobuk.

Read it all →

Kobuk was founded in 1899 as the village of Shungnak, a supply point for miners north of the Kobuk River in the Cosmos Hills. A trading post, school, and mission were built and residents came to the settlement. In the 1920s, river erosion led many residents to relocate ten miles downstream (west) to a site called "Kochuk." Kochuk became the new Shungnak, while the original Shungnak became Kobuk in 1928.

In May 1973, a flood covered the entire village. In September of the same year, it incorporated as a city.

The economy of Kobuk is based on subsistence hunting for caribou and moose.

The first postmaster at Kobuk (when it was still called Shungnak) was Martin F. Moran, appointed September 24, 1903.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kobuk, 1899 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1899
    FoundingKobuk is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 210
  5. 1928Post officeThe Kobuk post office opens
  6. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Kobuk, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Shelter Cabin Nos. 1 & 2, Noatak, Northwest Arctic Borough, AKDate?Shelter Cabin Nos. 1 & 2, Noatak, Northwest Arctic Bo…
On the map

Kobuk on the map in 1955

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

Kobuk on the 1955 USGS map1955Shungnak D-2 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 Kobuk.

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.

Shelter Cabin Nos. 1 & 2, Noatak, Northwest Arctic Borough, AK
Retake this viewShelter Cabin Nos. 1 & 2, Noatak, Northwest Arctic Borough, AK

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Kobuk’s post office has been open since 1928.

Gone or out of use
Kobuk Villageslocale

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

Questions about Kobuk’s history

What year was Kobuk founded?

In 1899, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Kobuk’s post office opened in 1928, and the census of 1910 counted 210 people here.

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 the Library of Congress (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.