Anchorage Daily News

NORTHWAY

POPULATION: 81 (2007)

LOCATION: On the east bank of Nabesna Slough, 50 miles southeast of Tok and 42 miles from the Canadian border in the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge.

DESCRIPTION: Three dispersed settlements: Northway Junction, at milepost 1,264 of the Alaska Highway; Northway, at the airport; and the Native village, two miles north. Alaska Natives are more than 80 percent of the population. The area was traditionally Athabaskan, though road construction and the airport have brought a permanent non-Native population. Most wage employment comes through facilities or services for the airport, where an FAA Flight Service Station and U.S. Customs office are located. A motel, cafe, bar and pool hall, grocery store and electric utility provide some employment. Unemployment is relatively high, although fire fighting and construction jobs bring seasonal income. Subsistence is important to the Native population. About 65 students attend the only school.

HISTORY: The area was first used by semi-nomadic Athabaskans who pursued seasonal subsistence activities. The Native settlement of Northway Village is located 2 miles south of Northway and was named in 1942 after Chief Walter Northway, who took his name from a Tanana and Nabesna riverboat captain. Construction during World War II of the airport, a link in the Northwest Staging Route project between the United States and Canada, spurred development and settlement. A post office was established in 1941.

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