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History · Marshall

Marshall dates to 1970

Most of Marshall was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1914 on.

1970founded
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Marshall’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Marshall began

When was Marshall founded?

1970

Marshall dates its founding to 1970 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1915.

2020 census: 49256 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1915.The full story ↓

What stands out about Marshall’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 Marshall’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBuildings at Marshall placer mining cam…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Marshall came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Marshall.

Read it all →

Marshall's previous name, changed in 1984, from Fortuna Ledge, was a mining village in the 1800s and early 1900s, with mining operations in Wilson Creek, just down river from the Ledge. With that, many Alaska Natives were moved from other villages, as far away as Unalakleet, Ohogamuit and Takchak. With that, there are two main Native groups, the Yupik descendants, hailing from both Takchak and Ohogamuit, and the Inupiaq descendants, hailing from Unalakleet. Along with those of Native descent, Marshall hosts a population of people of Russian and Norwegian descent mixed with Inupiaqs and has become a Yup'ik/Inupiaq/Russian community. Marshall was reportedly named for Vice-president Thomas Riley Marshall, who served from 1913 to 1921.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Marshall, 1914 to 1970

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1914In the archiveBuildings at Marshall placer mining camp on bank of Yukon River, Alaska, September 1914
  3. 1915Post officeThe Fortuna Ledge post office opens
  4. 1953In the archiveMarshall Yukon River 1953 FWS
  5. 1970
    FoundingMarshall is established
By decade

Marshall, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s3 items
Buildings at Marshall placer mining camp on bank of Yukon River, Alaska, September 19141914Buildings at Marshall placer mining camp on bank of Y…Looking along Yukon River near Marshall, Alaska, September 19141914Looking along Yukon River near Marshall, Alaska, Sept…Yukon River with buildings of Marshall, a placer mining camp, in distance, Alaska, September 19141914Yukon River with buildings of Marshall, a placer mini…
1920s–1940snothing 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
1950s1 item
Marshall Yukon River 1953 FWS1953Marshall Yukon River 1953 FWS
1960s–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
Today2 recent
Marshall, Alaska2007Marshall, AlaskaUntitled photo2004Untitled photo
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.

Buildings at Marshall placer mining camp on bank of Yukon River, Alaska, September 1914
Retake this viewBuildings at Marshall placer mining camp on bank of Yukon River, Alaska, September 1914, 1914

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Uglovaia

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

Questions about Marshall’s history

What year was Marshall founded?

In 1970, according to Wikidata. Marshall’s post office opened in 1915.

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 (6), 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.