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History · Nikolai

Nikolai dates to 1910, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Nikolai was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listing is the Presentation of Our Lord Chapel. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1950.

1910founded
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Nikolai began

When was Nikolai founded?

1910

Nikolai dates its founding to 1910 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1950.

First census: 88 in 19502020 census: 89116 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1949.The full story ↓

What stands out about Nikolai’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 Nikolai are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Nikolai’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Nikolai came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Nikolai.

Read it all →

The indigenous people of Nikolai, the Dina’ena, also referred to as Dichinanek’ Hwt’ana or Dikinanek Hut’ana, were nomads.

Nikolai was established around 1910. That year, the first council was organized in the city by the Russian Orthodox Church. The modern-day city was established after 1918.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Nikolai, 1910 to 1954

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910
    FoundingNikolai is established
  3. 1949Post officeThe Nikolai post office opens
  4. 1953Post officeThe Nikolai post office closes
  5. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Nikolai, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Nikolai 20 4-8-20132013Nikolai 20 4-8-2013Nikolai 2 4-8-20132013Nikolai 2 4-8-2013Nikolai 19 4-8-20132013Nikolai 19 4-8-2013Nikolai 18 4-8-20132013Nikolai 18 4-8-2013Nikolai 17 4-8-20132013Nikolai 17 4-8-2013Nikolai 16 4-8-20132013Nikolai 16 4-8-2013Nikolai 15 4-8-20132013Nikolai 15 4-8-2013Nikolai 13 4-8-20132013Nikolai 13 4-8-2013Nikolai 12 4-8-20132013Nikolai 12 4-8-2013Nikolai 11 4-8-20132013Nikolai 11 4-8-2013Nikolai 10 4-8-20132013Nikolai 10 4-8-2013AKMap-doton-Nikolai2004AKMap-doton-Nikolai
On the map

Nikolai on the map in 1954

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

Nikolai on the 1954 USGS map1954Medfra A-3 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 Nikolai.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Nikolai

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Presentation of Our Lord Chapel
Presentation of Our Lord Chapel
Buildings
Presentation of Our Lord ChapelBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Nikolai, census by census

01001960198020002020Peak: 112

Between 85 and 112 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Nikolai had its own post office from 1949 to 1953.

Nikolai
1949–1953
19401980today
Gone or out of use
Nikolai Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Nikolai’s history

What year was Nikolai founded?

In 1910, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Nikolai’s post office opened in 1949, and the census of 1950 counted 88 people here.

What is on the National Register in Nikolai?

One place: the Presentation of Our Lord Chapel (listed 1980).

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.