Nome, Alaska
105566
225890475
2008-07-15T21:50:28Z
Rjwilmsi
203434
gen fixes + link/fix date fields in cite templates (explanation [[User:Rjwilmsi#My_correction_of_citation_templates|here]]) using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]]
{{Infobox Settlement
|official_name = Nome, Alaska
|settlement_type = [[City]]
|nickname =
|motto =
<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline = Nome Alaska aerial 2006.jpg
|image_caption = Aerial view of the harbor in Nome
|imagesize = 250px
|image_flag =
|image_seal =
<!-- Maps -->
|image_map =
|mapsize = 250px
|map_caption = Location of Nome, Alaska
|image_map1 =
|mapsize1 =
|map_caption1 =
|pushpin_map = USA Alaska
|pushpin_label_position = left
|pushpin_mapsize = 300
|pushpin_map_caption = Location of '''Nome''' in the state of [[Alaska]], [[United States|USA]]
<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type = [[Countries of the World|Country]]
|subdivision_name = [[United States]]
|subdivision_type1 = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1 = [[Alaska]]
|subdivision_type2 = [[List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska|Census Area]]
|subdivision_name2 = [[Nome Census Area, Alaska|Nome]]
|government_footnotes =
|government_type =
|leader_title =
|leader_name =
|leader_title1 =
|leader_name1 =
|established_title =
|established_date =
<!-- Area -->
|area_footnotes =
|area_magnitude =
|area_total_km2 = 55.9
|area_land_km2 = 32.5
|area_water_km2 = 23.5
|area_total_sq_mi = 21.6
|area_land_sq_mi = 12.5
|area_water_sq_mi = 9.1
<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of = [[United States Census, 2000|2000]]
|population_footnotes =
|population_total = 3505
|population_density_km2 = 108.0
|population_density_sq_mi = 279.7
<!-- General information -->
|timezone = [[Alaska Time Zone|Alaska (AKST)]]
|utc_offset = -9
|timezone_DST = AKDT
|utc_offset_DST = -8
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_m = 6
|elevation_ft = 20
|latd = 64 |latm = 30 |lats = 14 |latNS = N
|longd = 165 |longm = 23 |longs = 58 |longEW = W
<!-- Area/postal codes & others -->
|postal_code_type =
|postal_code =
|area_code = [[Area code 907|907]]
|blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info = 02-54920
|blank1_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info = 1407125
|website =
|footnotes =
}}
'''Nome''' is a city located on the southern [[Seward Peninsula]] coast on [[Norton Sound]] of the Bering Sea. It is in the [[Nome Census Area, Alaska|Nome Census Area]] of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Alaska]]. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city population was 3,590.<ref name=popest2>{{cite web | date = [[June 21]] [[2006]] | url = http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/files/SUB-EST2005-04-02.csv | title = Annual Estimates of the Population for All Incorporated Places in Alaska | format = [[Comma-separated values|CSV]] | work = 2005 Population Estimates | publisher = U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division | accessmonthday = November 9 | accessyear = 2006}}</ref> Nome was [[incorporation (municipal government)|incorporated]] in 1901 and was once the most populous city in Alaska. Nome is in the unorganized borough (i.e., is not in any borough, the Alaska equivalent of counties) and lies within the region of the [[Bering Straits Native Corporation]] (BSNC). The [[Sitnasuak Village Corporation]] (a sort of subsidiary of BSNC) has its land holdings in and around Nome.
The city of Nome claims to be home to the world's largest gold pan, although this claim has been disputed by the [[Canada|Canadian]] city of [[Quesnel, British Columbia|Quesnel]], [[British Columbia]].
In the winter of 1925, a [[diphtheria]] epidemic raged among [[Eskimo]]s in the Nome area. Fierce statewide [[blizzard]] conditions prevented delivery of a life-saving serum by airplane from [[Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage]]. A relay of [[dog sled]] teams was organized to deliver the [[blood plasma|serum]]. The annual [[Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race]] commemorates this historic event.
The sled driver of the final leg of the relay was [[Gunnar Kaasen]]; his lead [[sled dog]] was [[Balto]]. A statue of Balto by [[F.G. Roth]] stands near the zoo in [[Central Park]], [[New York City]]. [[Leonhard Seppala]] ran the penultimate, and longest, leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome. One of his dogs, [[Togo (dog)|Togo]], is considered the forgotten hero of the "[[1925 serum run to Nome|Great Race of Mercy]]" [http://www.turtlezen.com/togosleddog.html], another of his dogs, Fritz, is preserved and on display at the [[Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum]] in Nome.
==Nome's name==
The origin of the city's name "Nome" is still under debate.
The city's name may come from a point of land located twelve miles (19 km) from the city. Cape Nome received its name from an error, when a British mapmaker copied a map annotation made by a British officer 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nomealaska.org/vc/history.htm |title=Nome Convention and Visitor Bureau |accessdate=2008-01-17}}</ref>
Other sources have noted that "Nome" is a place name in one or more Scandinavian countries, long pre-dating the use on the map in question, and it is possible that the town was named after [[Nome, Norway|Nome]], [[Norway]] by a navigator or cartographer familiar with that place.
"Nome" also occurs in ancient Egypt as a political subdivision, roughly equivalent to a "county" in common U.S. usage. "Nome" also appears for reasons unexplained in Central California where a facility for displaced native Americans (near Marysville) which was called "The Nome Cult Farm".
In February 1899, some local miners and merchants voted to change the name from Nome to Anvil City, because of the confusion with Cape Nome, 12 miles south, and the Nome River, the mouth of which is four miles (6 km) south of Nome. The United States Post Office in Nome refused to accept the change. Fearing a move of the post office to Nome City, a mining camp on the Nome River, the merchants unhappily agreed to change the name of Anvil City back to Nome.
==Geography and climate==
Nome is located at {{coor dms|64|30|14|N|165|23|58|W|city}} (64.503877, -163.399409).{{GR|1}}
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of 21.6 square miles (55.0 km²), of which, 12.5 square miles (32.5 km²) of it is land and 9.1 square miles (23.5 km²) of it (41.99%) is water.
{| class="wikitable" "text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|
| colspan="13" style="text-align:center;font-size:120%;"|Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
|-
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color: #000000" height="17" | Month
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Jan
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Feb
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Mar
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Apr
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | May
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Jun
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Jul
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Aug
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Sep
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Oct
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Nov
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" | Dec
|-
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Rec High °F
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 43
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 48
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 43
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 51
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 78
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 83
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 86
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 81
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 71
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 59
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 47
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 43
|-
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Norm High °F
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 13.4
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 13.6
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 17.7
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 26.8
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 43
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 53.9
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 58.6
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 56
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 48.6
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 34
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 23
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 15.8
|-
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Norm Low °F
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | -1.8
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | -2.3
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 1
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 12.4
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 31.1
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 40.6
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 46.6
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 45.2
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 37.2
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 22.9
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 10.8
| style="text-align:center; background: #C5DFE1; color:#000000;" | 0.9
|-
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Rec Low °F
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | -54
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | -42
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | -46
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | -30
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | -11
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 23
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 30
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 26
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | 9
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | -10
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | -39
| style="text-align:center; background: #F8F3CA; color:#000000;" | -41
|-
! style="background: #E5AFAA; color:#000000;" height="16;" | Precip (in)
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 0.92
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 0.75
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 0.6
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 0.65
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 0.74
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 1.14
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 2.15
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 3.23
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 2.51
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 1.58
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 1.28
| style="text-align:center; background: #E8EAFA; color:#000000;" | 1.01
|-
| colspan="13" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|''Source: USTravelWeather.com [http://www.ustravelweather.com/weather-alaska/nome-weather.asp]''
|}
== Demographics ==
[[Image:Inuit dance near Nome 1900.jpg|thumb|270px|Eskimo music and dance near Nome, 1900]]
As of the [[census]]{{GR|2}} of 2000, there were 3,505 people, 1,184 households, and 749 families residing in the city. The [[population density]] was 279.7 people per square mile (108.0/km²). There were 1,356 housing units at an average density of 108.2/sq mi (41.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 51.04% [[Race (U.S. census)|Native American]], 37.89% [[Race (U.S. census)|White]], 1.54% [[Race (U.S. census)|Asian]], 0.86% [[Race (U.S. census)|Black]] or [[Race (U.S. census)|African American]], 0.06% [[Race (U.S. census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.43% from [[race (U.S. census)|other races]], and 8.19% from two or more races. [[Race (U.S. census)|Hispanic]] or [[Race (U.S. census)|Latino]] of any race were 2.05% of the population.
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 is $23,402. About 5.4% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 4.3% under the age of 18 and 6.9% ages 65 or older.
== History ==
[[Image:Nome 1900.jpg|thumb|270px|Nome, 1900]]
[[Image:Bird's-eye View of Nome Alaska - 1907.jpg|thumb|270px|7 years later (1907) houses have replaced the tents.]]
[[Inupiat]] hunted for game on the west coast of Alaska from prehistoric times. However, there was no Eskimo or European settlement at Nome before the discovery of gold there. In the summer of 1898, the "Three Lucky Swedes": [[Norway|Norwegian]] [[Jafet Lindeberg]], and two naturalized American citizens of [[Sweden|Swedish]] birth, Erik Lindblom and John Brynteson, discovered [[gold]] on Anvil Creek. News of the discovery reached the outside world that winter. By 1899, Nome had a population of 10,000. In that year, gold was found in the beach sands for dozens of miles along the coast at Nome, which spurred the stampede to new heights. Thousands more people poured into Nome during the spring of 1900 aboard [[steamship]]s 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 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.
Many late-comers were jealous of the original discoverers, and tried to “jump” the original claims by filing mining claims covering the same ground. The federal judge for the area ruled the original claims valid, but some of the claim jumpers agreed to share their invalid claims with influential Washington politicians. [[Alexander McKenzie (American politician)|Alexander McKenzie]], a Republican party higher-up from [[North Dakota]], took a partial interest in the jumper mining claims, secured the appointment of his obedient crony Arthur Noyes as the federal judge for the Nome region, and the two went together to Alaska to steal the richest gold mines in Nome. The bald-faced theft using the federal judiciary was eventually stopped, but provided the plot for [[Rex Beach]]’s best-selling novel ''The Spoilers'', which was made into a stage play, then five times into movies, including one version starring [[John Wayne]] and [[Marlene Dietrich]].[http://www.miningswindles.com/html/the_spoilers.html]
Fires in 1905 and 1934 and violent storms in 1900, 1913, 1945 and 1974 destroyed much of Nome's gold rush era architecture. The pre-fire "Discovery Saloon" is now a private residence and is being slowly restored as a landmark.
In 1925, Nome was the destination of the famous "[[1925 serum run to Nome|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 Trail Sled Dog Race]] held in honor of the serum run.
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 the hills north of the city, there were auxiliary facilities associated with the [[Distant Early Warning Line|Distant Early Warning]] system that are visible from the city but are no longer in use.
Total gold production for the Nome district has been at least 3.6 million ounces.<ref>A.H Koschman and M.H. Bergendahl (1968) ''Principal Gold-Producing Districts of the United States'', US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 610, p.18.</ref>
==Education==
;Higher education
[[Image:Northwest Campus Nome.jpg|thumb|Northwest Campus sign]]
The [[University of Alaska Fairbanks]] operates a regional satellite facility in Nome called the Northwest Campus (formerly known as Northwest Community College).
;Public schools
Nome is served by the [[Nome City School District]] and the following public schools:
*[[Nome Elementary School]], serves grades PK-6
*[[Nome-Beltz Junior/Senior High School]], serves grades 7-12.
*[[Anvil City Science Academy]], a 5-8 charter magnet, is also part of the school district.
;Private schools
*[[Nome Adventist School]], a private school encompassing grades 1 through 9.
==Media==
Nome's airwaves are filled by the radio stations [[KNOM]] (780 AM, 96.1 FM) and KICY ([[KICY (AM)|850 AM]], [[KICY-FM|100.3 FM]]), plus a repeater of Anchorage's [[KSKA (FM)|KSKA]], K216BN, on 91.3 FM.
Cable television and broadband in Nome is serviced by [[General Communication|GCI]], which offer all popular cable channels, plus most of Anchorage's television stations. Nome also has three local low-powered stations, K09OW channel 9 and K13UG channel 13 (both carrying programming from [[Alaska Rural Communications Service|ARCS]]), plus K11TH channel 11 (a [[3ABN]] [[owned and operated]] translator).
Nome also is home to Alaska's oldest newspaper, the ''[[Nome Nugget]]''.
==Transportation==
[[Image:Balto.jpg|thumb|right|Statue of [[Balto]], the lead dog on the last relay team of the [[1925 serum run to Nome|1925 diphtheria serum run]].]]
The [[Nome Airport]] services Nome. There are small roads to communities up to 50 miles from Nome. There is no road connection to the major cities of Alaska.
==See also==
[[Nome mining district]]
==References ==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
{{Commons|Category:Nome, Alaska|Nome}}
* [http://www.nomealaska.org City of Nome]
{{Mapit-US-cityscale|64.503877|-165.399409}}
* [http://content.lib.washington.edu/nowellweb/index.html University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Frank H. Nowell Photographs] Photographs documenting scenery, towns, businesses, mining activities, Native Americans, and Eskimos in the vicinity of Nome, Alaska from 1901-1909.
* [http://content.lib.washington.edu/hesterweb/index.html University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Wilhelm Hester Photographs] 345 photographs ca. 1893-1906 of Puget Sound sailing vessels and ships' crews, the Alaska Gold Rush in Nome and vicinity in 1900, images of logging activities in Washington state, and San Francisco's Chinatown.
*[http://content.lib.washington.edu/heggweb/index.html University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Eric A. Hegg Photographs] 736 photographs from 1897-1901 documenting the Klondike and Alaska gold rushes, including depictions of frontier life in Skagway and Nome, Alaska and Dawson, Yukon Territory.
{{Nome Census Area, Alaska}}
{{Alaska}}
[[Category:Cities in Alaska]]
[[Category:Nome Census Area, Alaska]]
[[Category:Settlements established in 1898]]
[[Category:Gold rushes]]
[[Category:Port cities in the United States]]
[[Category:United States communities with Native American majority populations]]
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[[fa:نوم، آلاسکا]]
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