Nome (; , , also Sitŋazuaq, Siqnazuaq) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the US state of Alaska. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on the Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 in 2020, up from 3,598 in 2010. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901. It was once the most populous city in Alaska. Nome lies within the region of the Bering Straits Native Corporation, which is headquartered in Nome.

Prior to being settled by non-indigenous people, the area around Nome was home to Iñupiat natives. The area came to world attention in 1898, when three Nordic-Americans discovered gold on the ocean shores of Nome, prompting the Nome Gold Rush. Within a year, the area became popular among miners of European descent, who built and incorporated the city. Nome quickly reached a population of more than 10,000. Gold mining supported this population into the early 1900s, but the city's population had fallen considerably by 1910.

A series of fires and violent storms destroyed most of Nome's Gold Rush era buildings between 1905 and 1974. In the winter of 1925, a diphtheria epidemic raged among Alaska Natives in the Nome area. Fierce territory-wide blizzard conditions prevented the delivery of a life-saving diphtheria antitoxin serum by airplane from Anchorage. A relay of dog sled teams was organized to deliver the serum, which was successfully led by Balto and Togo. Today, the Iditarod Dog Sled Race follows the same route they took, and ends in Nome.

In the 21st century, Nome's economy remains based around gold mining, which is now mostly carried out offshore. Nome claims to be home to the world's largest gold pan, although this claim has been disputed by the Canadian city of Quesnel, British Columbia.

Etymology

The origin of the city's name "Nome" is debated. There are three theories. The first is that the name was given by Nome's founder, Jafet Lindeberg, an immigrant from Norway. Nome appears as a toponym in several places in Norway.

A second theory is that Nome received its name through an error: allegedly when a British cartographer copied an ambiguous annotation made by a British officer on a nautical chart, while on a voyage up the Bering Strait. The officer had written "? Name" next to the unnamed cape. The mapmaker misread the annotation as "C. Nome", or Cape Nome, and used that name on his own chart. The city took its name from the cape. Noted toponymist and historian George R. Stewart favored this explanation, citing a letter from the British Admiralty which allegedly confirmed the story from historical records.

The third proposed origin of the name is from a misunderstanding of the local Inupiaq word for "Where at?", Naami.

In February 1899, some local miners and merchants voted to change the name from Nome to Anvil City, because of the confusion with Cape Nome, east, and the Nome River, the mouth of which is east of Nome. The United States Post Office in Nome refused to accept the change. Fearing a move of the post office to Nome City, a mining camp on the Nome River, the merchants unhappily agreed to change the name of Anvil City back to Nome.

Geography and climate

Nome is located at (64.503889, −165.399444). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (41.99%) is water.

Nome has a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc), closely bordering on a tundra climate (Köppen ET), with long, very cold winters, and short, cool summers. Conditions in both winter and summer are moderated by the city's coastal location. Winters are less severe than in the Alaskan interior, and conversely, summers are lukewarm. For example, Fairbanks at a similar parallel quite far inland has much greater temperature swings, with both very warm and cold temperatures throughout the year. Even so, Nome is influenced by Far East Russia's cold landmass, and as a result the climate is much colder than in coastal Scandinavia at similar latitudes.

The coldest month is January, averaging . Highs on average breach the freezing point on 3–5 days per month from December to March. Annually, there have been 72 days of or lower temperatures recorded as early as October 12 in 1996, and as late as May 5 in 1984. Average highs stay below freezing from late October until late April. The average first and last dates of freezing lows are September 2 and June 9, respectively, a freeze-free period of 78 days.

The warmest month is July, with an average of . Temperatures rarely reach or remain above the whole night. Snow averages per season, with the average first and last dates of measurable (≥) snowfall being October 4 and May 16. Accumulating snow has not been officially observed in July or August. Precipitation is greatest in the summer months, and averages per year. The annual average temperature is .

Extreme temperatures range from on January 27–28, 1989 up to on June 19, 2013, and July 31, 1977. The record cold daily maximum is , set on January 28–29, 1919. The record warm daily minimum is on July 20, 1993, and August 14, 1926. The coldest day of the year averaged in the 1991 to 2020 normals, while the warmest night average was at .

The coldest has been February 1990 with a mean temperature of . The warmest month was August 1977 at . The annual mean temperature has ranged from in 1920 to in 2016.

Bering Sea water temperatures around Nome vary during summer from .

Note

Demographics

Nome first appeared on the 1900 US Census as an unincorporated village of 12,488 residents. At the time, it was the largest community in Alaska, ahead of Skagway and Juneau, the 2nd and 3rd largest places. The demographics for 1900 included 12,395 Whites, 42 Natives, 41 Asians and 10 Blacks.1900 Decennial Documents/US Census Bureau It was incorporated as a city in 1901. By 1910, it had fallen to 2,600 residents. Of those, 2,311 were White, 235 were Natives and 54 for all other races. It dropped to the 2nd largest city in Alaska behind Fairbanks.1910 Decennial Documents/US Census Bureau By 1920, it dropped to 9th place, with just 852 residents.

In 1930, it rose to 6th largest with 1,213 residents, 882 Whites, 326 Natives, 5 others.1930 Decennial Documents/US Census Bureau In 1940, it remained in 6th place with 1,559 residents. It dropped to 10th place in 1950 with 1,876 residents. In 1960, it rose to 8th place with 2,316 residents, with 1,608 "other", which was mostly Native, 705 Whites and 3 Blacks.

By 1970, Nome had fallen out of the top 10 Alaskan places to the 18th largest community, although it was still the 9th largest incorporated city. In 1980, Nome was the 15th largest, and the 12th largest incorporated city. In 1990, it was 16th largest, and the 12th largest incorporated city. In 2000, it was 25th largest, and the 16th largest incorporated city. In 2010, it was the 30th largest, and the 16th largest incorporated city.

The population of Nome is a mixture of Inupiat Eskimos and non-Natives. Although some employment opportunities are available, subsistence activities are prevalent in the community. A federally recognized tribe is located in the community, the Nome Eskimo Community. Former villagers from King Island also live in Nome. The ANCSA village corporation in Nome is Sitnasuak Native Corporation.

Racial and ethnic composition +Nome city, Alaska – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)1,3081,06396137.32%29.54%25.98%Black or African American alone (NH)3018320.86%0.50%0.87%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)1,7661,9551,87850.39%54.34%50.77%Asian alone (NH)5475781.54%2.08%2.11%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)2930.06%0.25%0.08%Other race alone (NH)18200.03%0.22%0.54%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)2723856077.76%10.70%16.41%Hispanic or Latino (any race)72851202.05%2.36%3.24%Total3,5053,5983,699100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Nome had a population of 3,699. The median age was 32.5 years. 28.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 8.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 106.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 113.5 males age 18 and over.

0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 1,246 households in Nome, of which 39.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 33.7% were married-couple households, 26.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 1,491 housing units, of which 16.4% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.5%.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 979 26.5% Black or African American 33 0.9% American Indian and Alaska Native 1,904 51.5% Asian 79 2.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 3 0.1% Some other race 41 1.1% Two or more races 660 17.8% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 120 3.2%

2000 census In the 2000 United States census, there were 3,505 people, 1,184 households, and 749 families in the city. The population density was . There were 1,356 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 51.0% Native American, 37.9% White, 1.5% Asian, 0.9% Black or African American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other races, and 8.2% from two or more races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.2% of the population.

There were 1,184 households, out of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.45.

The city population contained 31.9% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 115.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $59,402, and the median income for a family was $68,804. Males had a median income of $50,521 versus $35,804 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,402. About 5.4% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.3% under the age of 18 and 6.9% ages 65 or older.

History

Pre-Goldrush Inupiat hunted for game on the west coast of Alaska from prehistoric times. There is recent archeological evidence to suggest that there was an Inupiat settlement at Nome, known in Inupiat as Sitnasuak, before the discovery of gold.

Gold rush

In the summer of 1898, the "Three Lucky Swedes": Norwegian-American Jafet Lindeberg, and two naturalized American citizens of Swedish birth, Erik Lindblom and John Brynteson, discovered gold on Anvil Creek. News of the discovery reached the outside world that winter. By 1899, Nome had a population of 10,000 and the area was organized as the Nome mining district. In 1899, gold was found in the beach sands for dozens of miles along the coast at Nome, which spurred the stampede to new heights. Thousands more people poured into Nome during the spring of 1900 aboard steamships from the ports of Seattle and San Francisco. By 1900, a tent city on the beaches and on the treeless coast reached , from Cape Rodney to Cape Nome. In June 1900, Nome averaged 1,000 newcomers a day.