Alaska's cities
Northway, Alaska
Eastern Interior town got economic boost from wartime construction
Alaska.com
Northway, population 95, is on the east bank of Nabesna Slough, 50 miles southeast of Tok. It lies off the Alaska Highway on a nine-mile spur road, adjacent to the Northway airport, and is the first town inside Alaska for drivers arriving from Canada.
Northway is 42 miles from the Canadian border in the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge. Northway consists of three dispersed settlements: Northway Junction, at Milepost 1264; Northway, at the airport; and Northway Village, two miles north.
Northway lies in the continental climate zone, with long, cold winters and relatively warm summers. The average low temperature in January is minus 27; the average high during July is 69. Extreme temperatures have been recorded from minus 72 to 91. Average precipitation is 10 inches per year; snowfall is 30 inches annually.
Most wage employment is with facilities or services for the airport. An FAA Flight Service Station and U.S. Customs office are located at the airport. A motel, cafe, bar and pool hall, grocery store, and electric utility provide some employment.
Unemployment is relatively high, although firefighting and construction jobs bring seasonal income. Trapping also provides income. Subsistence is important to the Native population.
Northway is connected to the Alaska Highway by an unpaved road. Scheduled buses are available, and trucking services deliver freight to the community.
There is a state-owned 5,100-foot asphalt runway. Regular flights are available to Fairbanks, as well as charter services.
Eighty-two percent of the population is Alaska Native or part Native. The area was traditionally Athabaskan, though road construction and the airport have brought a permanent non-Native population.
History
The area around Northway was first used by semi-nomadic Athabaskans who pursued seasonal subsistence activities near Scottie and Gardiner creeks and the Chisana, Nabesna, and Tanana rivers.
The Native settlement of Northway Village is two miles south of Northway. The Native village was named in 1942 after Chief Walter Northway, who adopted his name from a Tanana and Nabesna riverboat captain.
The development and settlement of Northway was due to construction of the airport during World War II. The Northway airport was a link in the Northwest Staging Route, a cooperative project between the U.S. and Canada. A chain of air bases through Canada to Fairbanks were used to supply an Alaska defense during World War II, and during the construction of the Alcan Highway.
A post office was first established in 1941.
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