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Portage Creek
 Portage
Creek is located at the mouth of Portage Creek, a tributary of the
Nushagak River, 29 miles southeast of Dillingham. It lies at
approximately 58° 54' N Latitude, 157° 43' W Longitude (Sec. 01, T015S,
R051W, Seward Meridian). The community is located in the Bristol Bay
Recording District. The area encompasses 13 sq. miles of land and 0 sq.
miles of water.
This site was used by the Yup'ik
Eskimos as an overnight summer camp. Portage Creek was so named because
it was used to portage boats from the Nushagak River to the Kvichak
River. In this way, travelers could avoid the open waters of Bristol Bay
and the long trip around Etolin Point. The village was permanently
settled in 1961 by some families from Koliganek and other village up the
Nushagak River. A BIA school was established in 1963, and during the
winter of 1964-65, 11 families lived in Portage Creek. In 1965, the
village was served by a local, scheduled air carrier. Through the
mid-1980s, Portage Creek was an active community, but the population has
since declined.
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