Information About

Kobuk

Quick Facts

Open in The Map Kobuk on The Map

Location

66 ° 54' 25.999" N,
156 ° 52' 52" W

Region

Northwest Arctic

Elevation

148 ft (45.11 m)

Kobuk in Detail.

About

population 54, on right bank of Kobuk River 7 mi. NE of Shungnak, Kotzebue-Kobuk Low.

History

Village established about 1899 as a supply point for the mining activities in the Cosmos Hills to the north. It was then called Shungnak. Because the village was the location of a trading post, school, and Friends mission, it became primarily an Eskimo settlement by 1910. Due to river erosion the population of Shungnak decided to relocate at a new site called "Kochuk" about 10 miles downstream in the 1920's. The few families that remained behind, and some who returned, renamed the village "Kobuk." The Shungnak post office was established in 1903; the name was changed to Kobuk in 1928. Its population was 210 in 1910; 95 in 1920; 31 in 1939; and 38 in 1950.