Nelson Lagoon
Nelson
Lagoon is located on the northern coast of the Alaska Peninsula, on a
narrow sand spit that separates the lagoon from the Bering Sea. It is
580 miles southwest of Anchorage. It lies at approximately 56° 00' N
Latitude, 161° 00' W Longitude (Sec. 25, T048S, R077W, Seward Meridian).
The community is located in the Aleutian Islands Recording District. The
area encompasses 245 sq. miles of land and 197 sq. miles of water.
Nelson Lagoon has been used
historically as an Aleut summer fish camp. The resources of the lagoon
and nearby Bear River are excellent. The lagoon was named in 1882 for
Edward William Nelson of the U.S. Signal Corps, an explorer in the Yukon
Delta region between 1877 and 1920. A salmon saltery operated from 1906
to 1917, which attracted Scandinavian fishermen, but there has been no
cannery since. In 1965 a school was built and the community began to be
occupied year-round.
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