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History · Mentasta Lake

Mentasta Lake’s post office opened in 1947

Most of Mentasta Lake was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1940.

1947first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Mentasta Lake began

When was Mentasta Lake founded?

1947

The Mentasta Lake post office opened in 1947, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 15 in 19402020 census: 12779 years
Founding year: the first Mentasta Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Mentasta Lake’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mentasta Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Mentasta Lake’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Mentasta Lake, in brief

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

Mentasta Lake (Ahtena: Mendaesde) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Copper River Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census, Mentasta Lake had a population of 127.

Its first post office opened in 1947. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 112 to 127 (+13%).

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

Timeline

Mentasta Lake, 1947 to 1951

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1947Post officeThe Mentasta Lake post office opens
  3. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1951Post officeThe Mentasta Lake post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Mentasta Lake on the map, 1949 to 1952

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mentasta Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Mentasta Lake on the 1949 USGS mapMentasta Lake on the 1952 USGS map1949Nabesna 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 Mentasta Lake.

People over time

Mentasta Lake, census by census

010019401960198020002020Peak: 142

Between 15 and 142 people in every census since 1940.

8 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Mentasta Lake had its own post office from 1947 to 1951.

Mentasta Lake
1947–1951
19401980today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Slana1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mentasta Lake’s history

What year was Mentasta Lake founded?

The Mentasta Lake post office opened in 1947, 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 →
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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 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.