A lot can change over a century, and the secluded community of Ukivok on King Island is a great example of just that. For thousands of years this unique place was home to a bustling township that hunted, lived off the land and survived with limited resources. With strong and resilient Inupiat culture, local homesteaders built houses from the ground up and quickly turned them into warm, loving homes. After the WWII draft and continuous tragedies struck, the community endured tough times that they were never able to recover from.
King Island is a very isolated and unique place located in western Alaska.
Located in the middle of the Bering Sea, King Island is only about a mile wide and long and has no major industries.
Its location is 40 miles from the mainland and approximately 90 miles from the closest town of Nome.
The tiny town of Wales in the Nome census area is the closest northernmost point from King Island.
Cape Douglas is the closest town to the west of King Island.
What makes King Island so unique is that for thousands of years the small community of Ukivok inhabited the rocky banks of the island, but today no inhabitants remain on the island.
The locals built their homes and businesses on stilts on the side of the jagged rocky banks.
With a population of roughly only 200 residents, the people of Ukivok spent their days hunting seals, dancing beneath the midnight sun and living off the land.
The local Inupiat people called themselves Ukivokmiut, which means 'People of the sea.' They gained fame by becoming skilled ivory carvers and selling their pieces to visitors on the mainland during the summer months.
Nearly 75 years ago, the men on King Island were drafted to fight in World War II, cutting the population drastically and leaving many women and children to fend for themselves.
Shortly thereafter, a horrendous and utterly savage tuberculosis outbreak killed off a large part of the remaining population.
To make matters worse, after a tumultuous rock slide, the Bureau of Indian Affairs made the decision to close the only remaining school on the island in 1959.
The remainder of the local residents were then drawn to the mainland for survival. They were lured by better medical care, schools, jobs and an overall stronger economy that wasn't so stand-alone like King Island was.
Today, the entire island has been deserted and the community of Ukivok is nothing more than a ghost town. In this completely abandoned area, all that remains is history, memories and a small hodge-podge of scarcely standing buildings.
If you're interested in creepy places, check out this abandoned town in Alaska that most people stay far, far away from. If you're interested in historic places, check out this one place in Alaska where you can actually see Russia from your front door. For a perfectly wild balance of both creepy and historic, check out this abandoned ghost town in Alaska that is actually loaded with history.
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