Dillingham, Alaska
City in the United States in Dillingham Census Area
About Dillingham
Dillingham (Central Yupik: Curyung), also known as Curyung, is a city in Dillingham Census Area, Alaska, United States. Incorporated in 1963, it is an important commercial fishing port on Nushagak Bay. As per the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,249, down from 2,329 in 2010.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How Dillingham is governed
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0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.
Residents of Dillingham
Registered voters elect the officials below.
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Mayor
Executive
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The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.
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City Manager / Administrator
Executive
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The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).
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Police Chief
Administration & departments
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Leads the police department.
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Fire Chief
Administration & departments
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Leads the fire and emergency services department.
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Public Works Director
Administration & departments
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Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.
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Finance Director
Administration & departments
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The budget, taxes, and city accounts.
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Planning & Zoning Director
Administration & departments
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Land use, zoning, building permits.
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Parks & Recreation Director
Administration & departments
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Parks, programs, and public facilities.
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City Council
Legislative
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The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.
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City Clerk
Administration & departments
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Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.
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City Attorney
Administration & departments
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The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.
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Boards & Commissions
Legislative
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Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.
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Municipal Court
Judicial
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Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.
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Municipal Judge
Judicial
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Presides over the municipal court.
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- Website
- dillinghamak.us
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Population over time
From 2,329 in 2010 to 2,249 in 2020 (−3.4%).
Show the numbers
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 2,249 |
| 2010 | 2,329 |
History
Dillingham and its surrounding areas were inhabited by the Yup'ik people for millennia, who lived off of the land and sea. British Navy Captain James Cook first charted the Bristol Bay region in 1778, but did not venture into Nushagak Bay. The Russian-American Company built a redoubt (trading post) at Nushagak Point, across the river from present-day Dillingham, in 1818; named "Alexandrovski" after the czar, the post attracted fur traders from as far as the Kuskokwim River, the Alaska Peninsula, and Cook Inlet. In 1837, a Russian Orthodox mission was built at Nushagak, but the post's status was later downgraded in favor of other Russian-American Company posts in the Kuskokwim. In 1881, after the Alaska Purchase by the United States, the U.S. Signal Corps built a weather station at Nushagak.
In 1883, the Arctic Packing Company constructed the first cannery and seafood-processing plant in Bristol Bay at Kanulik, across the river from the site of modern-day Dillingham. Operations began the following year, with a pack of 400 cases of salmon, or 19.2k one-pound cans. By 1903, a total of ten canneries had been built along the Nushagak, including four within the city's current limits, producing as many as one million cases of canned salmon annually. Most of these canneries were closed in the 20th century for a variety of reasons, including coastal erosion, siltation, consolidation, and general changes in the industry, such as shifting focus to frozen fish.
In 1901, the Alaska-Portland Packers Association built a cannery near Snag Point, at what is now the city's central business district. This cannery burned down in 1910, but was rebuilt the following year and was acquired by Pacific American Fisheries in 1929. Now known as Peter Pan Seafoods, the cannery in downtown Dillingham remains operational, and other seafood companies maintain corporate offices and support facilities within the city's limits.
A courthouse was built in Kanakanak in 1903 and named after United States Senator William Paul Dillingham of Vermont, whose senate subcommittee investigated conditions in Alaska following the 1898 gold rush. Despite extensive travels throughout the territory, neither Dillingham nor his subcommittee ever set foot in the Bristol Bay region. Nonetheless, the post office later adopted the name, as did the entire community.
In 1918 and 1919, the global Spanish flu pandemic struck Bristol Bay, leaving no more than 500 survivors around Dillingham. A hospital and orphanage was established in Kanakanak after the epidemic, 6 miles (10 km) south of downtown Dillingham. An Indian Health Service hospital, operated by the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation, remains at Kanakanak.
The Dillingham News, the first local newspaper, was published in 1947 by the Dillingham Volunteer Fire Department as a way to attract new members. It was soon succeeded by the Beacon of Dillingham, a newspaper closely aligned by the unions of resident fishermen and cannery workers. Both were simple mimeograph editions.
In 1951, powerboats were first allowed to replace the sailboats used by fishermen in the Bristol Bay salmon fishery.
The City of Dillingham incorporated as a first class municipality in 1963.
In 1974, the first regional AM radio station for the Bristol Bay region was built by the Dillingham City School District under an educational grant. With the call letters KDLG and operating at 670 kHz, the station continues to provide education, entertainment, and important safety information to the fishing fleet and the surrounding communities. It is part of the National Public Radio (NPR) and Alaska Public Radio (APRN) networks.
Present-day industries around Dillingham are commercial salmon and herring fishing, seafood processing, sport fishing, government-related jobs and tourism.
Dillingham attracted national attention in 2006, when it installed 80 cameras at city-owned facilities and locations, such as the docks, harbor and police station, all funded by a Department of Homeland Security grant. The city justified the cameras by stating that they enhanced the ability to monitor and enforce security measures at those properties. Many criticized the project as an infringement on privacy, and also were critical that the funds were intended for national, rather than local, public safety issues. After spirited public debate, locally and nationally, the community held a referendum vote on the system on October 12, 2006, resulting in a rejection of the anti-camera initiative by a vote of 370 to 235.
On August 9, 2010, a DHC-3T Texas Turbine Otter crashed near Dillingham due to fog and reduced visibility. Former President Pro Tempore and Senator Ted Stevens was among the five killed aboard the plane. There were four survivors, including former NASA Administrator and EADS executive Sean O'Keefe.
On September 2, 2015, President Barack Obama visited Dillingham, as a part of his second-term trip around Alaska to call attention to climate change.
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