Dillingham, Alaska

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Dillingham (IPA: [ˈdɪ lɪŋ ˌhæm]) is a city in Dillingham Census Area, Alaska, United States. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 2,468.^[1]

Contents 1 Geography 2 Natural Resources 3 Demographics 4 History 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Geography

Dillingham is located at 59°2′48″N, 158°30′31″W (59.046751, -158.508665)^GR1.

Dillingham is on Nushagak Bay, an inlet of Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea, in southwestern Alaska.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.7 square miles (92.6 km²). 33.6 square miles (87.1 km²) of it is land and 2.1 square miles (5.5 km²) of it (5.93%) is water.

[edit] Natural Resources

Dillingham was once the salmon capital of the world. Back in 1937 the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission was founded. Then in 1947 this organization sent researchers to Bristol Bay to establish the first fishing cannery. It was not until 1959 that the fisheries were able to forecast the salmon runs in Western Alaska. The 1960s experienced an expansion in fishery studies. Opportunities were not only open to men, but also to women. The 1970s brought many technological advancements and record enrollments into the fishery studies programs [1].

Throughout the 1980s and the early 1990s millions of sockeye salmon were harvested and sold to foreign markets. This introduced the need to regulate the amount of fish being harvested every summer.

Commercial fishing today is not nearly as lucrative as it once was. This is due in part to fish farms [2].

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,466 people, 884 households, and 599 families residing in the city. The population density was 73.4/mi² (28.3/km²). There were 1,000 housing units at an average density of 29.7/mi² (11.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 35.60% White, 0.65% Black or African American, 52.55% Native American, 1.18% Asian, 0.61% from other races, and 9.41% from two or more races. 3.49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 884 households out of which 41.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% were married couples living together, 15.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.37.

In the city the population was spread out with 34.6% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 5.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 106.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $51,458, and the median income for a family was $57,417. Males had a median income of $47,266 versus $34,934 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,537. About 10.1% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

The area around Dillingham was inhabited by both Yupik and Athabaskans. It became a trade center when Russians built Alexandrovski Redoubt (Post) there in 1818. The area was called Nushagak, after the Nushagak River. Nushagak became a place where different groups from the Kuskokwim River, the Alaska Peninsula and the Cook Inlet came to trade or live at the post. In 1837 a Russian Orthodox mission was built at Nushagak.

In 1881, after the Alaska Purchase by the United States, the United States Signal Corps built a weather station at Nushagak. In 1884 the first salmon cannery in the Bristol Bay region was constructed east of the site of modern-day Dillingham. Ten more were built by 1900. The post office east of Nushagak at Snag Point and the town were named in 1904 after United States Senator Paul Dillingham, who had toured Alaska extensively with his Senate subcommittee during 1903.

In 1918 and 1919, an influenza epidemic left no more than 500 survivors around Dillingham. A hospital and orphanage were established in Kanakanak after the epidemic, 6 miles (10 km) south of Dillingham.

Present day industries around Dillingham are fishing and canning, sport fishing and tourism.

Dillingham attracted national attention in 2006 when the local police department installed 80 cameras around town (about one for every 30 residents) on a Department of Homeland Security grant. The cameras were widely seen as excessive and invasive, but the local police chief justified them by stating that terrorists looking to enter the United States could "backdoor" the nation through a vulnerable town such as Dillingham.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 59.046751° -158.508665°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

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