Nome, Alaska

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Nome is a city located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast of Norton Sound in the Nome Census Area, Alaska. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 3,505. Briefly at its founding in 1898, it was called Anvil City. Nome was incorporated in 1901, and its now within the Sitnasuak Native Corporation lands. The city of Nome also claims to be home to the world's largest gold pan, although this claim has been disputed by the city of Quesnel, B.C., Canada.

In the winter of 1925, a diphtheria epidemic among Eskimos in Nome was halted when, during fierce blizzard conditions, a sled team arrived with serum. The sled driver of the final leg of the relay was Gunnar Kaasen and the lead sled dog was Balto. A statue of Balto by F.G. Roth stands near the zoo in Central Park, New York, as does one in downtown Anchorage, Alaska. The annual Iditarod sled-dog race commemorates this historic event.

Geography

Image:AKMap-doton-Nome.PNG Nome is located at 64°30'14" North, 165°23'58" West (64.503877, -165.399409)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 55.9 km² (21.6 mi²). 32.5 km² (12.5 mi²) of it is land and 23.5 km² (9.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 41.99% water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 3,505 people, 1,184 households, and 749 families residing in the city. The population density was 108.0/km² (279.7/mi²). There were 1,356 housing units at an average density of 41.8/km² (108.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 51.04% Native American, 37.89% White, 1.54% Asian, 0.86% Black or African American, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 8.19% from two or more races. 2.05% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,184 households out of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.45.

In the city the population was spread out with 31.9% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 115.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $59,402, and the median income for a family was $68,804. Males had a median income of $50,521 versus $35,804 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,402. 6.3% of the population and 5.4% of families were below the poverty line. 4.3% of those under the age of 18 and 6.9% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

History

Image:IditarodEnd.jpg

Image:Statue of Balto in Anchorage.jpg

The west coast of Alaska was hunted by Inupiat from prehistoric times. However, there was no permanent settlement there until 1898, when three Swedes, Jafet Lindberg, Erik Lindblöm and John Brynteson, discovered gold on Anvil Creek. News reached the gold fields of the Klondike that winter. By 1899 Nome had a population of 10,000. It was not until gold was discovered in the beach sands in 1899 that news about the gold reached the lower United States. Thousands of people poured into Nome during the spring of 1900 aboard steamships from the ports of Seattle and San Francisco. By 1900, a tent city on the beaches and on the treeless coast reached 48 km (30 miles), from Cape Rodney to Cape Nome.

During the period from 1900 - 1909 estimates of Nome's population reached as high as 20,000. The highest recorded population in of Nome, in the 1900 United States census, was 12,488. At this time, Nome was the largest city in the Alaska Territory. Early in this period the U.S. Army policed the area, and expelled any inhabitant each autumn who did not have shelter (or the resources to pay for shelter) for the harsh winter.

In February 1899, a group of men who had property and mining claims on the near present-day Nome agreed to change the name of the new mining camp from Nome to Anvil City, because of the confusion with Cape Nome, a point of land located twelve miles from the city and Nome Creek, four miles from Nome. Cape Nome had received its name from a copying error, when a British mapmaker copied an annotation from a map made by a British officer had made on a voyage up the Bering Strait. The officer had written "? Name" next to the unnamed cape. The mapmaker misread the annotation as "C. Nome", or Cape Nome, and used that name on his map. The United States Post Office in Nome refused to change its name to Anvil City and the residents of Anvil City were afraid that the post office would move to Nome City, a mining camp on the Nome River. They voted and unhappily agreed to change the name of Anvil City back to Nome.

The name "Nome" may be of other origin. It is also possible that a mariner may have recalled the scenery around Nome, Norway when looking at the headland that came to be called "Cape Nome". The word "nome" has a variety of other usages, as denoting a type of political division in ancient Egypt. It also was use in the mid-1800's for an Indian reservation near Marysville, California (Nome Cult Farm).

Fires in 1905 and 1934 and violent storms in 1900, 1913, 1945 and 1974 destroyed much Nome's gold rush architecture. The pre-fire "Discovery Saloon" is now a private residence and is being slowly restored as a landmark.

During World War II, Nome was the last stop on the ferry system for planes flying from the United States to the Soviet Union for the Lend-lease program. The airstrip currently in use was built and troops were stationed there. One "Birchwood" hangar remains and has been transferred to a local group with hopes to restore it. It is not located on the former Marks AFB (now the primary Nome Airport); rather it is a remnant of an auxiliary landing field a mile or so away: "Satellite Field".

In 1925, Nome was the destination of the famous "Great Race of Mercy", where dog sleds played a large part in transporting diphtheria serum through harsh conditions. In 1973, Nome became the ending point of the 1,049+ mi (1,600+ km) Iditarod dog sled race held in honor of the serum run.

External links

• City of Nome

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• The Nome Nugget, the town's largest-circulation periodical (and Alaska's oldest newspaper)

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