Nome, Alaska

Nome
Sitŋasuaq (Inupiaq)
City of Nome
Steadman Street in Nome, looking north from King Place, in May 2002
Steadman Street in Nome, looking north from King Place, in May 2002
Official seal of Nome
Location of Nome, Alaska
Location of Nome, Alaska
Nome is located in Alaska
Nome
Nome
Nome is located in North America
Nome
Nome
Coordinates: 64°30′14″N 165°23′58″W / 64.50389°N 165.39944°W / 64.50389; -165.39944
CountryUnited States
StateAlaska
Census AreaNome
IncorporatedApril 12, 1901[1]
Founded byJafet Lindeberg, Erik Lindblom, and John Brynteson
Government
 • TypeCouncil-Manager
 • MayorJohn Handeland[2]
 • State senatorDonald Olson (D)
 • State rep.Neal Foster (D)
Area
 • Total21.49 sq mi (55.7 km2)
 • Land12.80 sq mi (33.2 km2)
 • Water8.69 sq mi (22.5 km2)
Elevation
20 ft (6 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total3,699
 • Density289.01/sq mi (111.59/km2)
 • Demonym
Nomeite Noman
 • Census Area
9,492
Time zoneUTC−9 (Alaska (AKST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−8 (AKDT)
ZIP Code
99762
Area code907
FIPS code02-54920
GNIS IDs1407125, 2419435
Websitewww.nomealaska.org

Nome (/ˈnm/; (Inupiaq: Sitŋasuaq, pronounced [sitŋɐsuɑq], also Sitŋazuaq, Siqnazuaq)) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the US state of Alaska. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 recorded in the 2020 census, up from 3,598 in 2010.[4] Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901. It was once the most-populous city in Alaska. Nome lies within the region of the Bering Straits Native Corporation, which is headquartered in Nome.

In prehistory, Nome was home to Iñupiat natives. The area came to Western attention in 1898, when three Nordic-Americans discovered gold on the ocean shores of Nome, prompting the Nome Gold Rush. Within a year the city went from non-existent to a population of some 10,000. Gold mining continued to attract settlers into the early 1900s, but the city's population had fallen considerably by 1910. A series of fires and violent storms destroyed most of Nome's Gold Rush era buildings between 1905 and 1974. In the winter of 1925, a diphtheria epidemic raged among Alaska Natives in the Nome area. Fierce territory-wide blizzard conditions prevented the delivery of a life-saving diphtheria antitoxin serum by airplane from Anchorage. A relay of dog sled teams was organized to deliver the serum, which was successfully led by Balto and Togo. Today, the Iditarod Dog Sled Race follows the same route they took and ends in Nome.

In the 21st century, Nome's economy remains based around gold mining, which is now mostly carried out offshore. The city of Nome also claims to be home to the world's largest gold pan, although this claim has been disputed by the Canadian city of Quesnel, British Columbia.[5]

  1. ^ 1996 Alaska Municipal Officials Directory. Juneau: Alaska Municipal League/Alaska Department of Community and Regional Affairs. January 1996. p. 106.
  2. ^ "Nome" (PDF). usgovcloudapi.net. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  3. ^ "2020 US Gazetteer Files". census.gov. US Census Bureau. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  4. ^ "2020 Census Data - Cities and Census Designated Places". Alaska.gov. Department of Labor and Workforce Development, State of Alaska. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  5. ^ Pynn, Larry (July 31, 2010). "B.C. Small Towns Go Big-Time; 'the World's Largest' are Magic Words that Draw Tourists and their Money". The Vancouver Sun – via ProQuest.