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Named locality · AK

Kodiak

Kodiak Island · USGS GNIS name record 1404875

Approximate USGS name location · 57.7900, -152.4072. This marker does not show a neighborhood boundary.
A place to beginThis source identifies a name and an approximate location. It supplies no neighborhood boundary, population estimate or assurance of current habitation.
Separate geographies · Original Census estimates

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These Census tracts have reference points near Kodiak. Their figures describe the entire named tract, not this locality. Open a tract to inspect its map, sources and demographic percentages.

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The source behind the name

USGS GNIS Populated Place names in all 50 states and DC. Features in the historical extract or explicitly named historical are excluded; duplicate decision records with identical identities and coordinates are collapsed. GNIS points identify names, not legal or neighborhood boundaries, current occupancy, school attendance or a statistical population. Nearby Census places and tracts remain separately named geographies. Name completeness and currency vary; this is not a claim to include every locally used neighborhood name.

Original USGS record for Kodiak

Dataset snapshot 2026-09-02 · Source record edited 02/15/2011 · NAD83 · approximate source location

USGS description & history

on NE coast of Kodiak Island.

Local name derived from Kodiak Island and first published by the U.S. Post Office Department when the Kodiak post office was established in 1869 (Ricks 1965, p. 35). The post office was discontinued in 1875 and reestablished in 1888. The town was founded in 1792 by Alexander Baranov, Manager of the Shelikov (later the Russian American) Company from 1792 to 1808. He named it "Pavlovsk Gavan" or "Paul's Harbor." Baranov moved Shelikov's settlement at Three Saints Harbor to this location because "the land surrounding it was higher and drier * * * it was surrounded by the timber needed to build boats, buildings and better fortifications * * *." (Ameigh and Chaffin, 1962, p. 45). The 11th Census in 1880 (1893, p. 74) reported, "The most important permanent settlement in the Second district is Kadiak, designated on our charts as St. Paul. The place was selected as a central station and headquarters of the Russian fur-trading companies in the year 1789 on account of its good harbor and close

Source notes may describe earlier conditions.
Source files & checksums
USGS GNIS · HistoricalFeatures

SHA-256 20c96936a3ba430b345eed1c7395b6aab52875aac8e1e2905fab37b388cab381

USGS GNIS · FeatureDescriptionHistory

SHA-256 45ad8d56b3bb4990ad8105cdda15ee7d2f07afd6941afe75b783f29b02723697

USGS GNIS · PopulatedPlaces

SHA-256 919fac887628b8547ec1b24fae319522a9481a56909c3914d1e0a2b56783147c