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History · McGrath

McGrath’s post office opened in 1913

Most of McGrath was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1920.

1913first post office
0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From McGrath’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How McGrath began

When was McGrath founded?

1913

The McGrath post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 90 in 19202020 census: 301113 years
Founding year: the first McGrath post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about McGrath’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 528 in 1990; 301 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · People over time

McGrath, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 528

Peaked at 528 in 1990; 301 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How McGrath came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of McGrath.

Read it all →

The Old Town McGrath site, across the river from present-day McGrath, was a meeting and trading place for Big River, Nikolai, Telida, and Lake Minchumina villagers.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

McGrath, 1913 to 1990

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1913Post officeThe McGrath post office opens
  3. 1914In the archiveBuildings of the Northern Commercial Company headquarters in McGrath, seen from across th…
  4. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 528
By decade

McGrath, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s6 items
Buildings of the Northern Commercial Company headquarters in McGrath, seen from across the Kuskokwim River, Alaska, Sep…1914Buildings of the Northern Commercial Company headquar…D. W. Sprague and another man kneeling by rows of potatoes on Sprague farm, McGrath, Alaska, September 19141914D. W. Sprague and another man kneeling by rows of pot…D. W. Sprague picking up potato, while another man stands at right, Sprague farm, McGrath, Alaska, September 19141914D. W. Sprague picking up potato, while another man st…Looking along Kuskokwim River toward settlement of McGrath in distance, Alaska, September 19141914Looking along Kuskokwim River toward settlement of Mc…Looking along Kuskokwim River, with buildings of McGrath at right, Alaska, September 19141914Looking along Kuskokwim River, with buildings of McGr…Man, woman and child in front of McGrath Post Office, McGrath, Alaska, September 19141914Man, woman and child in front of McGrath Post Office,…
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

McGrath on the map in 1954

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

McGrath on the 1954 USGS map1954McGrath D-6 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 McGrath.

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 of the Northern Commercial Company headquarters in McGrath, seen from across the Kuskokwim River, Alaska, Sep…
Retake this viewBuildings of the Northern Commercial Company headquarters in McGrath, seen from across the Kuskokwim River, Alaska, Sep…, 1914

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners

McGrath’s post office has been open since 1913.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Old McGrath

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

Help out

Finish McGrath’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBuildings of the Northern Commercial Co…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about McGrath’s history

What year was McGrath founded?

The McGrath post office opened in 1913, 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 (6), 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.