Chitina (Alaska)

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Chitina
Chitina (Alaska)
Chitina
Chitina
Location in Alaska
Basic data
State : United States
State : Alaska
Borough : Valdez-Cordova Census Area
Coordinates : 61 ° 31 ′  N , 144 ° 26 ′  W Coordinates: 61 ° 31 ′  N , 144 ° 26 ′  W
Time zone : Alaska ( UTC − 9 / −8 )
Residents : 126 (as of 2010)
Population density : 0.6 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 248 km 2  (approx. 96 mi 2 ) of
which 219.2 km 2  (approx. 85 mi 2 ) is land
Height : 205 m
Area code : +1 907
FIPS : 02-14110
GNIS ID : 1400337

Chitina is a census-designated place in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area of Alaska . The village is located on the Edgerton Highway at the confluence of the Chitina River in the Copper River . Copper Center is 85 km northwest and Glennallen is 106 km northwest. To the east, on the opposite side of the Copper River, borders the Wrangell-St.-Elias National Park . The McCarthy Road , one of two roads in the park starts at Chitina.

history

Salmon fishing gear on the Copper River near Chitina

Athabasques have lived in the region for up to 7,000 years. There are archaeological sites to the south and east of the settlement. At the end of the 19th century, copper discoveries in the northern valley of the Chitina River brought miners to the area. The construction of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway made Chitina a thriving town in 1914. Almost all of Chitina was owned by Otto Adrian Nelson, a surveyor for the Kennicott Mines. He supplied the village with electrical energy generated by hydropower.

After the copper mines were closed in 1938, almost all residents left the place. Chitina almost degenerated into a ghost town. From 1945 the route of the railway was converted into a road, the Copper River Highway . However, work halted in 1964 after the Million Dollar Bridge collapsed before the Highway reached Chitina. The McCarthy Road , also built on an old railway line, leading from Chitina in the National Park to Kennicott. Today the place is a popular place to go for salmon anglers.

Web links

Commons : Chitina  - collection of images, videos and audio files