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(2006): 5,812
NEWS & UPDATES
New Website! The old site was pretty static, meaning if i wanted to update or change anything, i would have to get into the code and HTML away. I have moved us to a more dynamic website! With the help of Wordpress, its easier to update files, add posts, add html files. Our Photo System is still online, along with the Community Forums.
New Bulletin Board – I am trying out an off network bulletin board, the existing board i had up gets flooded with spam, so I had to take it down. New Link Here
History:
Bethel Alaska was first established by Yupik Eskimos who called the village "MAMTERILLERMIUT," meaning "Smokehouse People," named for the nearby fish smokehouse. There were 41 people in Bethel during the 1880 U.S. Census. At that time, it was an Alaska Commercial Company Trading Post. The Moravian Church established a mission in the area in 1884. The community was moved to its present location due to erosion at the prior site. A post office was opened in 1905. Before long, Bethel was serving as a trading, transportation and distribution center for the region, which attracted Natives from surrounding villages. Over time, federal and state agencies established regional offices in Bethel. " The city was incorporated in 1957.
Bethel, one of the largest communities in western Alaska, lies within the 20 million-acre Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, the largest wildlife refuge in the nation. Bethel serves as an administrative and transportation hub for 56 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
Transportation: The State-owned Bethel Airport is the regional transportation center, and is served by two major passenger airlines, two cargo carriers, and numerous air taxi services. The airport ranks third in the state for total number of flights. It is currently undergoing a $7 million renovation and expansion. Two float plane bases are nearby, Hangar Lake and H Marker Lake. The Port of Bethel is the northern-most medium-draft port in the U.S. River travel is the primary means of local transportation in the summer, and it becomes a 150-mile ice road to surrounding villages in the winter. A barge service based in Bethel provides goods to the Kuskokwim villages. There are 16 miles of local roads.
Climate: Precipitation averages 16 inches a year in this area, with snowfall of 50 inches. Summer temperatures range from 62 to 42; winter temperatures average 19 to -2.
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