Alaska's cities
Mentasta Lake, Alaska
Village once had Army telegraph station; was shaken in 2002 quake
Alaska.com
Mentasta Lake, Alaska, is on the west side of Mentasta Pass, six miles off the Tok Cutoff of the Glenn Highway. It's 38 miles southwest of Tok Junction.
Mentasta Lake is an old, primarily Athabaskan community whose population of about 140 is three-fourths Alaska Native. The village depends heavily on subsistence hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering.
Cash employment is limited and seasonal. There is a year-round lodge with a cafe and gas station.
The school is attended by about 30 students. The village store has been renovated, but money is needed for start-up.
The unincorporated village has no taxing authority. About half the homes have a well and septic tank and are fully plumbed. Treated well water is available from the washeteria.
History
The area was apparently the best-known Native immigration route across the Alaska Range, and early village settlements have been located at various sites around the lake.
Families that now reside here come from Nabesna, Suslota, Slana and other nearby villages.
The U.S. Army Signal Corps established a telegraph station at Mentasta Pass in 1902. A post office opened in the village in 1947 but was discontinued in 1951.
The village was severely shaken by the November 2002 Denali Fault earthquake, which had a magnitude of 9.2. Several homes and the road were damaged.
Source: Alaska Department of Community and Economic Development
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