Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lower Kalskag

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 · Lower Kalskag

Lower Kalskag was first counted by the census in 1940, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Lower Kalskag was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Its Register listing is the St. Seraphim Chapel. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1940.

1940first census
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lower Kalskag’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lower Kalskag began

When was Lower Kalskag founded?

1940

Lower Kalskag first appears in the census in 1940.

First census: 76 in 19402020 census: 27886 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Lower Kalskag’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lower Kalskag’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lower Kalskag’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 photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewSt. Seraphim Russian Orthodox Churches,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Lower Kalskag, in brief

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

Lower Kalskag (Central Yupik: Qalqaq; Russian: Лоуэр-Калскаг) is a city in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. It is twenty-six miles west of Aniak. As of the 2020 census, Lower Kalskag had a population of 278.

Its first post office opened in 1940. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 282 in 2010, 278 in 2020.

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

By decade

Lower Kalskag, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
St. Seraphim Russian Orthodox Churches, Old ChurchDate?St. Seraphim Russian Orthodox Churches, Old ChurchSt. Seraphim Russian Orthodox Churches, New ChurchDate?St. Seraphim Russian Orthodox Churches, New Church
Today2 recent
Lower Kalskag residents Marcus Lake and his mother, Carrie2015Lower Kalskag residents Marcus Lake and his mother, C…Acting Deputy Under Secretary Vernita Dore (left) touring the wastewater facility under construction in2015Acting Deputy Under Secretary Vernita Dore (left) tou…
On the map

Lower Kalskag on the map in 1954

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lower Kalskag.

Lower Kalskag on the 1954 USGS map1954Russian Mission C-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 Lower Kalskag.

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.

St. Seraphim Russian Orthodox Churches, Old Church
Retake this viewSt. Seraphim Russian Orthodox Churches, Old Church

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Lower Kalskag

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
St. Seraphim Chapel
St. Seraphim Chapel
Buildings
St. Seraphim ChapelBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Lower Kalskag, census by census

010020030019401960198020002020Peak: 291

Between 76 and 291 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Questions about Lower Kalskag’s history

What year was Lower Kalskag founded?

The Lower Kalskag post office opened in 1940, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1969.

What is on the National Register in Lower Kalskag?

One place: the St. Seraphim Chapel (listed 1980).

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), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), 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.