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History · Noatak

Half of Noatak’s homes were built after 1991

Most of Noatak was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1880.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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What stands out about Noatak’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 Noatak are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1880 and 1910, then grew 4-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Noatak’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Noatak’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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People over time

Noatak, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020400 in 1880Low: 121

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1880 and 1910, then grew 4-fold.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Noatak came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Noatak.

Read it all →

Noatak was established as a fishing and hunting camp in the 1800s. Two identifiable groups of Inupiat resided on the Noatak River. The Nautaaġmiut (called "Noatagamut" in the 1880 census), Inupiaq for "inland river people", lived upriver, and the Napaaqtuġmiut, meaning "people of the trees", lived downriver. By the early 20th century, the missionaries Robert and Carrie Samms settled in what they called "Noatak". A United States post office was established in 1940.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Noatak, 1907 to 2020

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Born hereDella Keats is born here
  3. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 21st century
  5. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 570
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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Noatak on the map, 1955 to 1964

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

Noatak on the 1955 USGS mapNoatak on the 1964 USGS map1955Noatak C-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 Noatak.

Questions about Noatak’s history

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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.