Nome
Nome (CA) · USGS GNIS name record 1407125
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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 Nome ↗Dataset snapshot 2026-09-02 · Source record edited 02/11/2011 · NAD83 · approximate source location
USGS description & history
On S coast of Seward Peninsula on Norton Sound, Seward Peninsula High.
Schrader and Brooks (1900, p11), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who visited the town in October 1899, spoke of the "thriving young city of Nome, first called Anvil City, now officially Nome." Gold was found in the area in the summer of 1898 and the town got its start in October 1898 when six men met at the mouth of the Snake River and formed the Cape Nome mining district. The short-lived name "Anvil City" was derived from Anvil Creek, where the first major gold was found. In June 1899, gold was found on the beaches of Nome and by August a number of men were prospecting the beaches. The news of the gold strike was carried to the States that winter and in early summer 1900 the rush was on. At the peak that summer there were 30,000 people at Nome, but 16,000 left in 13 weeks (Rickard, 1909, p308-337). Nome incorporated on April 9, 1901. The population was 12,488 in 1900; 2,600 in 1910; 852 in 1920; 1,213 in 1930; 1,559 in 1939; and 1,876 in 1950. A post office was established here in 1899 (Ricks, 1965, p4).
Source notes may describe earlier conditions.Source files & checksums
SHA-256 20c96936a3ba430b345eed1c7395b6aab52875aac8e1e2905fab37b388cab381
SHA-256 45ad8d56b3bb4990ad8105cdda15ee7d2f07afd6941afe75b783f29b02723697
SHA-256 919fac887628b8547ec1b24fae319522a9481a56909c3914d1e0a2b56783147c