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History · Napakiak

Napakiak was first counted by the census in 1880

Most of Napakiak was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1880.

1880first census
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Federal Aviation Administration, Alaska Region · Public domain
Quick answers

How Napakiak began

When was Napakiak founded?

1880

Napakiak first appears in the census in 1880.

First census: 98 in 18802020 census: 358146 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Napakiak’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1900 and 1940, then grew 3-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Napakiak’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Napakiak’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 viewNapakiak-Airport-FAA-photo: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Napakiak, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020197 in 1900Low: 113

Lost a third of its people between 1900 and 1940, then grew 3-fold.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Napakiak, in brief

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

Napakiak (Central Yupik: Naparyarraq) is a city in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census, Napakiak had a population of 358.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 354 in 2010, 358 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Napakiak, 1951 to 2020

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1951Post officeThe Napakiak post office opens
  3. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1996In the archiveNapakiak-Airport-FAA-photo
  5. 21st century
  6. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 358
By decade

Napakiak, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
Napakiak-Airport-FAA-photo1996Napakiak-Airport-FAA-photo
Today1 recent
Snow Machine in2006Snow Machine in
On the map

Napakiak on the map in 1954

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

Napakiak on the 1954 USGS map1954Bethel C-8 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 Napakiak.

Famous people

Famous people close to Napakiak

Nobody well known was born in Napakiak itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Don PageCanadian physicist · b. 1948
Olga MichaelAmerican midwife, priest wife and Saint · b. 1916
Lyman HoffmanAmerican politician · b. 1950
N
Nora GuinnAmerican judge · b. 1920
V
Victor Oluwatosin AjayiEducationalist and Scientist · b. 1934
S
Sonya Kelliher-CombsIñupiaq and Athabascan artist · b. 1969

Questions about Napakiak’s history

What year was Napakiak founded?

The Napakiak post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1970.

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) and the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.