Yakutat City and Borough is a borough and a city located in Alaska. As of 2000, the population is 808. The borough seat is Yakutat.

Geography

Yakutat is located at 59°32'42" North, 139°42'1" West (59.545012, -139.700175)¹.

Yakutat is in a isolated location in lowlands along the Gulf of Alaska. It is 340 km (212 miles) northwest of Juneau. It is at the mouth of Yakutat Bay.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 267.1 km² (103.1 mi²). 257.5 km² (99.4 mi²) of it is land and 9.5 km² (3.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 3.56% water.

Adjacent boroughs and census areas

• Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska - northwest
• Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska - southeast

Also shares eastern border with British Columbia and the Yukon Territory.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there are 680 people, 261 households, and 157 families residing in the town. The population density is 2.6/km² (6.8/mi²). There are 385 housing units at an average density of 1.5/km² (3.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 41.47% White, 0.15% Black or African American, 47.06% Native American, 1.47% Asian, 0.88% Pacific Islander, 0.00% from other races, and 8.97% from two or more races. 0.88% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 261 households out of which 33.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.7% are married couples living together, 12.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% are non-families. 31.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 5.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.61 and the average family size is 3.30.

In the town the population is spread out with 31.0% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 5.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 117.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 123.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town is $47,054, and the median income for a family is $51,875. Males have a median income of $42,404 versus $26,875 for females. The per capita income for the town is $21,330. 15.7% of the population and 11.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 22.5% of those under the age of 18 and 10.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

History

The original settlers in the Yakutat area are believed to have been Eyak-speaking people from the Copper River area. Yakutat means "the place where the canoes rest" in Eyak. Tlingits settled in the area and conquered the Eyaks before the arrival of Europeans in Alaska.

In the 1700s and 1800s, English, French, Spanish and Russian explorers came to the region. The Russian-American Company built a fort in Yakutat in 1805 to facilitate trade in sea otter pelts. When the Russians cut off access to the fisheries nearby, a Tlingit war party attacked and destroyed the fort.

By 1886, after the Alaska Purchase by the United States, the black sand beaches in the area were being mined for gold. In 1889 the Swedish Free Mission Church opened a school and sawmill in the area. A cannery, another sawmill, a store and a railroad were constructed beginning in 1903 by the Stimson Lumber Company. Many people moved to the current site of Yakutat to be closer to the Stimpson cannery, which operated through 1970. During World War II, the United States Air Force stationed a large aviation garrison near Yakutat and built a paved runway. The troops were withdrawn after the war but the runway is still in use.

Fishing is currently the largest economic activity in Yakutat.