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History · Kotlik

Kotlik was first counted by the census in 1880

Most of Kotlik was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1880.

1880first census
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kotlik’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kotlik began

When was Kotlik founded?

1880

Kotlik first appears in the census in 1880.

First census: 8 in 18802020 census: 655146 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Kotlik’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1920 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kotlik’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kotlik’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 viewUpturned boats and sled at Native villa…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Kotlik, census by census

01002003004005006007001880190019201940196019802000202083 in 1920Low: 14

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1920 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Kotlik, in brief

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

Kotlik (Central Yupik: Qerrulliik, Russian: Котлик) is a city in Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census, Kotlik had a population of 655.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 577 to 655 (+14%).

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

Timeline

Kotlik, 1890 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890In the archiveUpturned boats and sled at Native village, Kotlik, Alaska, circa 1890-1900
  3. 20th century
  4. 1914In the archiveEskimo village of Kotlik in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, September 1914
  5. 1930Post officeThe Kotlik post office opens
  6. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 21st century
  8. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 655
By decade

Kotlik, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1910s2 items
Upturned boats and sled at Native village, Kotlik, Alaska, circa 1890-19001890Upturned boats and sled at Native village, Kotlik, Al…Eskimo village of Kotlik in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, September 19141914Eskimo village of Kotlik in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta…
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
On the map

Kotlik on the map in 1952

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

Kotlik on the 1952 USGS map1952Saint Michael A-4 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 Kotlik.

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.

Upturned boats and sled at Native village, Kotlik, Alaska, circa 1890-1900
Retake this viewUpturned boats and sled at Native village, Kotlik, Alaska, circa 1890-1900, 1890

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Kotlik’s post office has been open since 1930.

Gone or out of use
Komaroflocale

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

Questions about Kotlik’s history

What year was Kotlik founded?

The Kotlik post office opened in 1880, 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 →
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 (2), 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.