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History · Unalakleet

Unalakleet was first counted by the census in 1880, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Unalakleet was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listing is the Bureau of Indian Affairs Unalakleet School. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1880.

1880first census
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Unalakleet’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Unalakleet began

When was Unalakleet founded?

1880

Unalakleet first appears in the census in 1880.

First census: 100 in 18802020 census: 765146 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Unalakleet’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Unalakleet’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewChuck Degnan: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Unalakleet came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Unalakleet.

Read it all →

Unalakleet is an adaptation of the Iñupiaq word "Una-la-thliq", which means "from the southern side".

Unalakleet is located at the Norton Sound end of the Unalakleet-Kaltag Portage, an important winter travel route between Norton Sound and the Yukon River. Unalakleet has long been a major trade center between the Athabascan people, who lived in the interior of Alaska, and the Inupiat, who lived on the coast.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Unalakleet, 1901 to 1998

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Unalakleet post office opens
  3. 1904Born hereTicasuk Brown is born here
  4. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1973In the archiveChuck Degnan
  6. 1974Born hereAelin Peterson is born here
  7. 1998In the archiveUNK-f
By decade

Unalakleet, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1970s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s–1990s2 items
Chuck Degnan1973Chuck DegnanUNK-f1998UNK-f
Today10 recent
Moorage2013MoorageKennel2013KennelHarbor2013HarborGaff Hook2013Gaff HookFish House2013Fish HouseDetail2013DetailYupi'k Humor2012Yupi'k HumorUnalakleet aerial 20102012Unalakleet aerial 2010Unalakleet aerial 2010 (cropped)2012Unalakleet aerial 2010 (cropped)AKMap-doton-Unalakleet2004AKMap-doton-Unalakleet
On the map

Unalakleet on the map in 1950

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

Unalakleet on the 1950 USGS map1950Unalakleet D-4 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 Unalakleet.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Chuck Degnan
Retake this viewChuck Degnan, 1973

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Unalakleet’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Unalakleet

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
2002
Bureau of Indian Affairs Unalakleet School
Bureau of Indian Affairs Unalakleet School
Buildings
Bureau of Indian Affairs Unalakleet SchoolBuilding

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

People over time

Unalakleet, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020765

Grew from 100 people in 1880 to 765 in 2020, 7 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Unalakleet

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
A
Aelin PetersonAmerican skier · b. 1974
T
Ticasuk BrownAmerican Iñupiaq educator, poet and writer · b. 1904

Questions about Unalakleet’s history

What year was Unalakleet founded?

The Unalakleet post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1974.

What is on the National Register in Unalakleet?

One place: the Bureau of Indian Affairs Unalakleet School (listed 2002).

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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.