Alaska Village Electric Cooperative

A non-profit electric utility with the largest service area in the World.

AVEC Facilities

Koyuk

(KOY-yuck

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Aerial view of new power plant and bulk fuel tank farm

Koyuk is located at the mouth of the Koyuk River, at the northeastern end of Norton Bay on the Seward Peninsula, 90 air miles northeast of Nome. The site of "Iyatayet" on Cape Denbigh to the south has traces of early man that are 6,000 to 8,000 years old. The villagers were historically nomadic. Lt. Zagoskin of the Russian Navy noted the village of "Kuynkhak-miut" here in 1842-44. A Western Union Telegraph expedition in 1865 found the village of "Konyukmute." Around 1900, the present townsite began to be populated, where supplies could easily be lightered to shore. Two boom towns grew up in the Koyuk region around 1914: Dime Landing and Haycock. The "Norton Bay Station," 40 miles upriver, was established to supply miners and residents in 1915. In addition to gold, coal was mined a mile upriver to supply steam ships and for export to Nome. The first school began in the church in 1915; the U.S. government built a school in Koyuk in 1928. The City was incorporated in 1970. AVEC built a new, automated, modular-style power plant and bulk fuel tank farm a few years ago.


The Denali Commission provided funding for this new modular-style, automated power plant and bulk fuel tank farm

New bulk fuel tank farm

Old bulk fuel tank farm

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Koyuk Facts

Community Profile

Community Facilities

Economy

The Koyuk economy is based on subsistence, supplemented by limited part-time jobs. Unemployment is high. There is a small amount of commercial fishing, primarily for herring, and some income is derived from reindeer herding. Thirteen residents hold commercial fishing permits. The main sources of meat are fish, reindeer, seal, beluga whale and moose. There are no roads connecting Koyuk with other villages, although an 18-mile road to Six Mile Point is under construction. Access is limited to air and sea. There is no dock in the village, although the City has requested funds for a small boat harbor feasibility study.

Culture and Activities

Koyuk is a traditional Unalit and Malemiut Eskimo village that speaks a dialect of Inupiat Eskimo. Residents maintain a subsistence lifestyle. The sale or importation of alcohol is banned in the village.

Climate

Community Weather

broken clouds   Broken clouds, 50°F

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