Posted in Alaska
March 06, 2016
The Story Behind This Tiny Isolated Alaskan Town Is Amazing
Hyder, Alaska is more of a Canadian outpost than it is a town belonging to the United States. Believe it or not, there are only 87 residents in this tiny, easternmost corner of Alaska, and all of the businesses (except the U.S. Post Office) run on Canadian currency and B.C. time! If you live in Hyder, you can’t even call the cops, just the nearby Canadian Mounties.
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The easiest way to reach the town of Hyder is by driving through Canada. In fact, Canadians and travelers from the United States make special trips to Hyder just so they can say they've been to Alaska (which is surprising considering the fact that all Hyder businesses take Canada's national holidays off.)
At one point there was a ferry that connected Hyder to the rest of Alaska, but it stopped operating in the 90's. Now the only real connection Hyder has with the rest of our state is a U.S. Mail float plan that comes twice a week providing transport to the people of Hyder.
Clearly, it is simply the location of Hyder that requires it to be so much more "Canadian" than a tiny town in Alaska. Their power comes from a Canadian utility provider, their kids have to go through the Canadian public school system, AND they don't even use the Alaskan 907 area code.
How strange is this? Have you heard of Hyder?
