Dillingham (), also known as Curyung, is a city in Dillingham Census Area, Alaska, United States. Incorporated in 1963, it is an important commercial fishing port on Nushagak Bay. As per the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,249, down from 2,329 in 2010.
Geography Dillingham is on Nushagak Bay at the mouth of the Nushagak River, an inlet of Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea in the North Pacific, in southwestern Alaska. It is located at (59.046751, -158.508665).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of . of it is land, and of it (7.64%) is water. This may change as the City of Dillingham will likely petition the State of Alaska to increase the size of its boundaries to include most of Nushagak Bay and Wood River, to gain revenue from the Nushagak District and Wood River Special Harvest Area commercial salmon fisheries.
Dillingham is located in the 37th district of the Alaska House of Representatives, and is represented by Independent Bryce Edgmon, who serves as Speaker for the Alaska House of Representatives.
Transportation Dillingham is not connected to the statewide road system, thus the only way to reach the city is by air or boat. Dillingham Airport, located near the center of the city limits, has a runway and is served (in the summertime) by several flights daily through Alaska Airlines; year-round flights are available through PenAir. A paved road connects Dillingham with Aleknagik and the Wood-Tikchik State Park. Many residents live along the Aleknagik Lake Road, among other roads, connecting the city's center with adjacent neighborhoods, such as Wood River and Kanakanak.
Natural resources Dillingham is the regional hub of the rich Bristol Bay salmon fishing district. Bristol Bay supports the world's largest runs of wild sockeye salmon and returns of other species of Pacific salmon. The Nushagak district produces an average of 6.4 million salmon annually and as many as 12.4 million salmon in 2006. Harvests are closely regulated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to ensure adequate spawning escapement to ensure long term sustainability and provide for subsistence harvests by residents of upriver villages.
Commercial fishing remains an important part of the Dillingham economy, but prices paid for salmon vary due to international competition, especially from fish farming operations in Chile, Norway, Canada and elsewhere. Prices paid Bristol Bay fishermen for fresh sockeye salmon peaked at $2.11 per pound in 1988 but fell to just $0.42 per pound in 2001. Prices have since rebounded due to techniques to improve fish quality and enhanced marketing efforts, and were back up to $2.35 per pound in 2013, rising to $3.02 in 2016 when reporting ceased. Processed fresh sockeye were priced commercially at $6.43 per pound in 2019.
Dillingham is an important gateway to many sport fishing lodges and eco-tourism opportunities. Many of these are focused on the adjacent Wood-Tikchik State Park, the largest state park in the United States, known for its great fishing opportunities. Dillingham is also the headquarters for nearby Togiak National Wildlife Refuge, home to walruses, seals, terrestrial mammals, migratory birds, and fish, as well as one of the largest wild herring fisheries in the world. Togiak National Wildlife Refuge was established to conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their natural diversity, including salmon, to fulfill international treaty obligations, to provide for continued subsistence use, and to ensure necessary water quality and quantity.
In 2010, the City of Dillingham voted to re-authorize its position opposing the proposed Pebble Mine, a large gold-copper-molybdenum prospect located at the headwaters of Bristol Bay. The resolution explains that the value of the fishery totals about $100 million a year; that the commercial wild salmon fishery has been the backbone of livelihoods for more than 100 years; that the future of the renewable resource industry depends on its freshwater stream reputation; that local residents depend on subsistence activities which in turn depend on Bristol Bay's pristine freshwater streams and habitat; and that Pebble threatens to destroy the last great wild salmon fishery on the planet.
Demographics
Dillingham first appeared on the 1910 U.S. Census as the unincorporated village of Kanakanak. In 1920, it returned as Chogiung and in 1930 and every successive census as Dillingham. It formally incorporated in 1963. See: Historic Locales & Confusion Over Place Names Around Dillingham
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Dillingham had a population of 2,249. The median age was 33.2 years. 27.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 11.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 106.5 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 821 households in Dillingham, of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 39.0% were married-couple households, 24.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 994 housing units, of which 17.4% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 12.2%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 590 26.2% Black or African American 21 0.9% American Indian and Alaska Native 1,244 55.3% Asian 40 1.8% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 9 0.4% Some other race 24 1.1% Two or more races 321 14.3% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 92 4.1%
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,466 people, 884 households, and 599 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,000 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 52.6% Native American, 35.6% White, 1.2% Asian, 0.7% Black or African American, 0.6% from other races, and 9.4% from two or more races. 3.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 884 households, out of which 41.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% were married couples living together, 15.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.37.
In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 34.6% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 5.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $51,458, and the median income for a family was $57,417. Males had a median income of $47,266 versus $34,934 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,537. About 10.1% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18.
Crime
Per-capita crime rates in Dillingham are persistently higher than state and national averages. In 2007, the city experienced the nation's highest rate of forcible rape per person, with 1 incident for every 103.9 residents. The city ranked 22nd (out of 8,659 cities with available data) for overall violent crime, with 1 incident for every 32.8 residents. The 2013 figures again demonstrate a high per-capita incidence of rape, indicating 1 incident for every 152.4 residents. (A note of caution regarding interpretation of the UCR data from which this information is drawn can be found on the FBI/UCR website.) History
Dillingham and its surrounding areas were inhabited by the Yup'ik people for millennia, who lived off of the land and sea. British Navy Captain James Cook first charted the Bristol Bay region in 1778, but did not venture into Nushagak Bay. The Russian-American Company built a redoubt (trading post) at Nushagak Point, across the river from present-day Dillingham, in 1818; named "Alexandrovski" after the czar,Dillingham from the Alaska Community Database the post attracted fur traders from as far as the Kuskokwim River, the Alaska Peninsula, and Cook Inlet. In 1837, a Russian Orthodox mission was built at Nushagak, but the post's status was later downgraded in favor of other Russian-American Company posts in the Kuskokwim. In 1881, after the Alaska Purchase by the United States, the U.S. Signal Corps built a weather station at Nushagak.
In 1883, the Arctic Packing Company constructed the first cannery and seafood-processing plant in Bristol Bay at Kanulik, across the river from the site of modern-day Dillingham. Operations began the following year, with a pack of 400 cases of salmon, or 19.2k one-pound cans. By 1903, a total of ten canneries had been built along the Nushagak, including four within the city's current limits, producing as many as one million cases of canned salmon annually. Most of these canneries were closed in the 20th century for a variety of reasons, including coastal erosion, siltation, consolidation, and general changes in the industry, such as shifting focus to frozen fish.
In 1901, the Alaska-Portland Packers Association built a cannery near Snag Point, at what is now the city's central business district. This cannery burned down in 1910, but was rebuilt the following year and was acquired by Pacific American Fisheries in 1929. Now known as Peter Pan Seafoods, the cannery in downtown Dillingham remains operational, and other seafood companies maintain corporate offices and support facilities within the city's limits.
A courthouse was built in Kanakanak in 1903 and named after United States Senator William Paul Dillingham of Vermont, whose senate subcommittee investigated conditions in Alaska following the 1898 gold rush. Despite extensive travels throughout the territory, neither Dillingham nor his subcommittee ever set foot in the Bristol Bay region. Nonetheless, the post office later adopted the name, as did the entire community.
In 1918 and 1919, the global Spanish flu pandemic struck Bristol Bay, leaving no more than 500 survivors around Dillingham. A hospital and orphanage was established in Kanakanak after the epidemic, south of downtown Dillingham. An Indian Health Service hospital, operated by the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation, remains at Kanakanak.
The Dillingham News, the first local newspaper, was published in 1947 by the Dillingham Volunteer Fire Department as a way to attract new members. It was soon succeeded by the Beacon of Dillingham, a newspaper closely aligned by the unions of resident fishermen and cannery workers. Both were simple mimeograph editions.
In 1951, powerboats were first allowed to replace the sailboats used by fishermen in the Bristol Bay salmon fishery.
The City of Dillingham incorporated as a first class municipality in 1963.
In 1974, the first regional AM radio station for the Bristol Bay region was built by the Dillingham City School District under an educational grant. With the call letters KDLG and operating at 670 kHz, the station continues to provide education, entertainment, and important safety information to the fishing fleet and the surrounding communities. It is part of the National Public Radio (NPR) and Alaska Public Radio (APRN) networks.
Present-day industries around Dillingham are commercial salmon and herring fishing, seafood processing, sport fishing, government-related jobs and tourism.