Yakutat Borough, Alaska: History and Information

Yakutat Borough, Alaska

Yakutat Borough History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Yakutat
Year Organized: 1992
Square Miles: 7,650

Court House:

P.O. Box 160
Borough Seat
Yakutat, AK 99689-0160

Etymology - Origin of Borough Name

The name is Tlingit, Yaakwdáat, meaning "the place where canoes rest", but it may originally derive from an Eyak name which has been lost.

Demographics:

History of Yakutat Borough History, Alaska

The original settlers in the Yakutat area are believed to have been Eyak-speaking people from the Copper River area. Tlingits moved into the area and assimilated the Eyaks before the arrival of Europeans in Alaska. Yakutat was only one of a number of Tlingit and mixed Tlingit-Eyak settlements in the region, although all the others have been depopulated or abandoned. Yakutat has a diverse cultural history. The original settlers are believed to have been Eyak-speaking people from the Copper River area who were conquered by the Tlingits. Yakutat means "the place where the canoes rest."

In the 1700s and 1800s, English, French, Spanish and Russian explorers came to the area. The Russian-American Company built a fort in Yakutat in 1805 to aid in trade of sea otter pelts. When the Russians cut off access to the fisheries nearby, a Tlingit war party attacked and ruined the fort.

By 1886, after the Alaska Purchase by the United States, the black sand beaches in the area were being mined for gold. In 1889 the Swedish Free Mission Church opened a school and sawmill in the area. A cannery, another sawmill, a store and a railroad were built in the beginning of 1903 by the Stimson Lumber Company. Many people moved to the current site of Yakutat to be closer to the Stimpson cannery, which operated through 1970. Fishing is currently the largest profitable activity in Yakutat

Yakutat is isolated among the lowlands along the Gulf of Alaska, 225 miles northwest of Juneau and 220 miles southeast of Cordova. It is at the mouth of Yakutat Bay, one of the few refuges for vessels along this stretch of coast. The Hubbard and Malaspina Glaciers are nearby. The area encompasses 7,651 square miles of land.

A federally recognized tribe is located in the community -- the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe; Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. The population of the community consists of 46.8% Alaska Native or part Native. The area maintains a traditional Tlingit culture with influences from the original Eyak Athabascans, as well as Russian, English and American traders and miners.

A total of 808 residents are recorded for Yakutat Borough in the 2000 census.

Neighboring Boroughs:

Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska - northwest

Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska - southeast

Also shares eastern border with British Columbia (Stikine Region) and the Yukon Territory.

Cities and Towns:

- Yakutat (County Seat)

Borough Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

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