Beaver
Beaver is located on the north bank of the
Yukon River, approximately 60 miles southwest of Fort Yukon and 110
miles north of Fairbanks. It lies in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife
Refuge. It lies at approximately 66° 21' N Latitude, 147° 23' W
Longitude (Sec. 30, T018N, R002E, Fairbanks Meridian). The community is
located in the Fairbanks Recording District. The area encompasses 19 sq.
miles of land and 4 sq. miles of water.
Gold
discoveries in the Chandalar region in 1907 led to the founding of
Beaver. It was established as the Yukon River terminus for miners
heading north to the gold fields. The Alaska Road Commission built a
trail from Beaver north to Caro on the Chandalar River around 1907. In
1910, Thomas Carter and H.E. Ashelby established a store at Beaver, and
three freight companies operated on the trail, commonly known as
Government Road. In 1911, about the time the gold rush was over, Frank
Yasuda, a Japanese who had traded at Point Barrow and prospected in the
Brooks Range, arrived with a group of Eskimos and became a partner in
the trading post. They served the remaining mines in the region,
supplied riverboats with firewood, and traded with Eskimo and Indian fur
trappers. A post office was established in 1913, and a second trading
post opened in the early 1920s. The first Beaver school opened in 1928,
and an airstrip was built in the 1930s. Beaver's population remained
stable from 1950 through the 1970s. In 1974, the village council
purchased the local store and set it up as a cooperative, with villagers
holding shares of stock.
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