Nome Census Area
Nome was built along the Bering Sea, on the
south coast of the Seward Peninsula, facing Norton Sound. It lies 539 air miles
northwest of Anchorage, a 75-minute flight. It lies 102 miles south of the
Arctic Circle, and 161 miles east of Russia. The community lies at approximately
64.501110° North Latitude and -165.406390° (West) Longitude. (Sec. 26, T011S,
R034W, Kateel River Meridian.) Nome is located in the Cape Nome Recording
District. The area encompasses 12.5 sq. miles of land and 9.1 sq. miles of
water. January temperatures range from -3 to 11; July temperatures are typically
44 to 65. Average annual precipitation is 18 inches, including 56 inches of
snowfall.
Malemiut,
Kauweramiut and Unalikmiut Eskimos have occupied the Seward Peninsula
historically, with a well-developed culture adapted to the environment. Around
1870 to 1880, the caribou declined on the Peninsula and the Eskimos changed
their diets. Gold discoveries in the Nome area had been reported as far back as
1865 by Western Union surveyors seeking a route across Alaska and the Bering
Sea. But it was a $1500-to-the-pan gold strike on tiny Anvil Creek in 1898 by
three Scandinavians, Jafet Lindeberg, Erik Lindblom, and John Brynteson, that
brought thousands of miners to the "Eldorado." Almost overnight an isolated
stretch of tundra fronting the beach was transformed into a tent-and-log cabin
city of 20,000 prospectors, gamblers, claim jumpers, saloon keepers, and
prostitutes. The gold-bearing creeks had been almost completely staked, when
some entrepreneur discovered the "golden sands of Nome." With nothing more than
shovels, buckets, rockers and wheel barrows, thousands of idle miners descended
upon the beaches. Two months later the golden sands had yielded one million
dollars in gold (at $16 an ounce). A narrow-gauge railroad and telephone line
from Nome to Anvil Creek was built in 1900. The City of Nome was formed in 1901.
By 1902 the more easily reached claims were exhausted and large mining companies
with better equipment took over the mining operations. Since the first strike on
tiny Anvil Creek, Nome's gold fields have yielded $136 million. The gradual
depletion of gold, a major influenza epidemic in 1918, the depression, and
finally World War II, each influenced Nome's population.
A disastrous fire in 1934 destroyed most of the City.
A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community -- the Nome Eskimo
Community. The population of the community consists of 58.7% Alaska Native or
part Native. The population of Nome is a mixture of Inupiat Eskimos and
non-Natives. Former villagers from King Island also live in Nome. Nome is the
finish line for the 1,100-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race from Anchorage, held each
March.
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