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History · Port Lions

Port Lions dates to 1964

Most of Port Lions was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1970.

1964founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Nader Moussa · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Port Lions began, and where its name came from

When was Port Lions founded?

1964

Port Lions dates its founding to 1964 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1970.

First census: 227 in 19702020 census: 17062 years

How did Port Lions get its name?

Port Lions was named in honor of the club.

Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1965. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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

Start Port Lions’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Port Lions’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

Port Lions, in brief

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

Port Lions (Masiqsirraq in Alutiiq) is a city located on Kodiak Island in the Kodiak Island Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, Port Lions had a population of 170. Port Lions is the headquarters of the Native Village of Port Lions, a federally recognized Alaska Native tribe. The community was built to house the inhabitants of Ag'waneq from the neighboring island of Afognak and Port Wakefield from Raspberry Island, after their villages were destroyed by the Good Friday earthquake in 1964. Port Lions was built with help from the United States government and the Lions Club. It was named in honor of the club.

Port Lions was established in 1964. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 194 to 170 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Port Lions, 1947 to 1965

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1947On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1964
    FoundingPort Lions is established
  4. 1965Post officeThe Port Lions post office opens
By decade

Port Lions, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Port Lions Post Office (November 2006)2006Port Lions Post Office (November 2006)AKMap-doton-PortLions2004AKMap-doton-PortLions
On the map

Port Lions on the map, 1947 to 1950

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

Port Lions on the 1947 USGS mapPort Lions on the 1950 USGS map1947Kodiak D-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 Port Lions.

People over time

Port Lions, census by census

0100200198020002020Peak: 256

Between 170 and 256 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Port Lions

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

See all →
Darby StanchfieldAmerican actress · b. 1971
Jason EvermanAmerican musician · b. 1967
S
Scott R. FisherVisual Effects Artist · b. 1967
R. Stanley WilliamsPhysicist and engineer from United States of Am… · b. 1951
James TerryAmerican martial artist · b. 1981

Questions about Port Lions’ history

What year was Port Lions founded?

In 1964, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Port Lions’ post office opened in 1965, and the census of 1970 counted 227 people here.

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), 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.