Kwethluk, Alaska

Bethel Census Area

02-42380

Kwethluk is a village in the Bethel Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to the 2000 census it had a population of 713 on an area of 30.3 km ². The population density is 28 per km ².

The town lies at the mouth of the Kuskokwim River in Kwethluk in the Yukon - Kuskokwim Delta, about 20 km east of Bethel.

History

Archaeological remains near the present town indicate a settlement of the area since prehistoric times. In the late 19th century, families settled out of four lying on the Kwethluk River villages in Kwethluk.

The Moravian Church established a chapel in 1896. In 1912 a Russian Orthodox church.

Discovery of gold in a nearby creek attracted prospectors to the area in 1909. The occurrence, however, was exhausted in 1911. At another site on the upper reaches of the Kwethluk River gold was washed until the 2nd World War.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs established a school in 1924 with accommodations for the teachers. 1947 was followed by a post office and in 1948 a department store, which was owned by indigenous people. 1956 an airstrip was built.

Kwethluk in 1975 and received its charter.