Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Napaskiak was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Its Register listing is the St. Jacob's Church. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1880.
Napaskiak dates its founding to 1971 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Napaskiak’s history is told.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1880 and 1940, then grew 7-fold.
11 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Napaskiak’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Napaskiak yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Napaskiak (Central Yupik: Napaskiaq) is a city in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census, Napaskiak had a population of 509.
Napaskiak was established in 1971. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 405 to 509 (+26%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveBOARDWALKS AND HOUSES, CHURCH IN BACKGROUND - Village of Napaskiak, Napaskiak, Bethel Cen…One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Napaskiak.
1954Bethel C-8 sheet · 1:63,360U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Napaskiak.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Napaskiak itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1971, according to Wikidata. the census of 1880 counted 196 people here.
One place: the St. Jacob's Church (listed 1980).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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