POPULATION: 204 (2006)
LOCATION: On the west bank of Ghost Creek Slough off the Yukon River, 420 miles southwest of Fairbanks.
DESCRIPTION: An Ingalik Indian village where Alaska Natives are more than 96 percent of the population and subsistence and fishing-related activities predominate. During the 2000 U.S. census, 56 residents were employed, median household income was $21,875, per capita income was $8,542, and 45 percent of residents were living below the official U.S. poverty level. About 60 students attend the one school.
HISTORY: When Russian explorers traveled the Yukon River in the early 1840s they reported Anilukhtakpak, with 170 people. A Catholic mission and school called Holy Cross were established in the 1880s by the Rev. Aloysius Robaut. Ingalik migrated to be near the mission and school. A post office opened in 1899 under the name Koserefsky. In 1912, the name was changed to Holy Cross. In the 1930s and '40s, sternwheelers brought the mail and supplies two or three times a year. The course of the river changed during the 1930s, and by the mid-'40s, the slough on which the village is now located was formed. The city government was incorporated in 1968.
