Anchorage Daily News

POPULATION: 53 (2006)

LOCATION: On the north bank of the Kuskokwim River, 2 miles north of its junction with the Stony River, 100 miles east of Aniak, 185 miles northeast of Bethel and 225 miles west of Anchorage.

DESCRIPTION: A community that is 85 percent Alaska Native, with a mix of Athabascan Indians and Yup'ik Eskimos. There are few job opportunities in Stony River; the school (attended by about a dozen students) is the only year-round employer. BLM firefighting can provide seasonal income. Subsistence provides 60 percent of village food sources -- salmon, moose, caribou, bear, porcupine, waterfowl and berries. During the 2000 U.S. census median household income was $20,714, per capita income was $5,469 and about 39 percent of residents were living below the poverty level.

HISTORY: Also known as Moose Village and Moose Creek, it began as a trading post and riverboat landing to supply mining operations to the north. The first trading post opened in 1930, and a post office was established in 1935. Area Natives used these facilities, but it wasn't until the early 1960s that families established year-round residency and a school was constructed. Approximately 75 people lived in the village in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.

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