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History · St. George

St. George was first counted by the census in 1880, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the St. George the Great Martyr Orthodox Church. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1880.

1880first census

1on the National Register

13%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How St. George began

When was St. George founded?

1880

St. George first appears in the census in 1880.

First census: 92 in 18802020 census: 67146 years

Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about St. George’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 St. George are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 264 in 1960; 67 people lived here in 2020.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. George’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. George’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

People over time

St. George, census by census

Peaked at 264 in 1960; 67 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How St. George came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. George.

Read it all →

The island was discovered by Gavriil Pribylov on June 25, 1786, during a search for the breeding grounds of northern fur seals. The island is named after Pribylov's ship, the St. George. St. George Island was the first of the Pribilofs to be discovered.

Built in 1935, the sole church on the island is St. George Church, an Eastern Orthodox Church in the Diocese of Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America.

On February 29, 1996 the crab-fishing vessel All American ran aground on the island without loss of life.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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

St. George on the map, 1958 to 2001

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

1958Pribilof Islands sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of St. George.

On the National Register

1 historic place in St. George

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1980

St. George the Great Martyr Orthodox Church

Buildings

St. George the Great Martyr Orthodox ChurchBuilding

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map

Saint George

Gone or out of use

Igax̂tadam Tagaaluĝiiairport

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about St. George’s history

What year was St. George founded?

The St. George post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1983.

What is on the National Register in St. George?

One place: the St. George the Great Martyr Orthodox Church (listed 1980).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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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