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Teller
Teller is located on a spit between Port
Clarence and Grantley Harbor, 72 miles northwest of Nome, on the Seward
Peninsula. It lies at approximately 65° 16' N Latitude, 166° 22' W
Longitude (Sec. 01, T003S, R038W, Kateel River Meridian). The community
is located in the Cape Nome Recording District. The area encompasses 0
sq. miles of land and 0 sq. miles of water.
 The
Eskimo fishing camp called "Nook" was reported 20 miles south of Teller
in 1827. A Western Union Telegraph expedition wintered at the present
site in 1866 and 1867; it was then called "Libbyville" or "Libby
Station." The Teller Reindeer Station was operated by the U.S.
Government at a nearby site from 1892 to 1900. The station was named in
1892 by Sheldon Jackson for U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Interior
Henry Moore Teller.
Teller Mission, a Norwegian Evangelical
Lutheran Mission, was built in 1900 across the harbor at the current
site of Brevig Mission. It was renamed Brevig Mission in 1903, after the
Reverend T.L. Brevig. Present-day Teller was also established in 1900
after the Bluestone Placer Mine discovery 15 miles to the south. During
these boom years, Teller had a population of about 5,000 and was a major
regional trading center, attracting Natives from Diomede, Wales, Mary's
Igloo and King Island. In May 1926, bad weather caused the dirigible "Norge"
to detour to Teller on its first flight over the North Pole from Norway
to Nome.
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