Unga (
Unangam tunuu: ''Uĝnaasaqax̂'') is a
ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
on
Unga Island
Unga Island (Uĝnaasaqax̂ in Aleut language, Aleut) is the largest of the Shumagin Islands off the Alaska Peninsula in southwestern Alaska, United States. The island has a land area of 170.73 sq mi (442.188 km2), making it the List of island ...
in the
Aleutians East Borough of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
,
about two miles west of
Sand Point. The island's length is 15 miles (24 km). Unga's altitude is 59 feet (18 m).
History
It was settled by
Aleuts
Aleuts ( ; (west) or (east) ) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska ...
in 1833 and was named Delarov, referring to
Evstratii Ivanovich Delarov Evstratii Ivanovich Delarov (also spelled Evstrat Delarov and Eustrate Delarof, c. 1740 – 1806, ) was a Greek mariner who served with several Russian maritime fur trade companies in Russian America. He was born in Ottoman Macedonia. He was t ...
of the
Shelikhov-Golikov Company
The Shelikhov-Golikov Company (SGC) was a Russian fur trading venture, founded by Irkutsk entrepreneurs Grigory Shelikhov and Ivan Larionovich Golikov in 1783. Formed in Eastern Siberia during the 1780s along with several competing companies, t ...
, with a population of 116. The village was reported as Ougnagok by
F. P. Lutke in 1836.
The first post office was established in 1888 and in 1890 Apollo Mining Co. was established. In 1894, its name was changed to Unga. The post office was closed in 1958. In 1969, the last family left Unga. Most of the people who left Unga moved to Sand Point.
Demographics
Unga first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as the unincorporated village of "Ounga." Of 185 residents, 101 were Aleut, 69 were Creole (Mixed Russian and Native) and 15 were White. The leader of the town was known as the Unga Wizard. It returned in 1890 under the present spelling of Unga and also included the Oakland fishing station, Apollo mine & Squaw Harbor mine. Of 159 residents, 109 were Creole, 48 were White and two were Asian (oddly, no non-Creole Aleuts or Natives appeared).
It continued to return on every successive census until 1960. It did not return in 1970. It was designated an Alaskan Native Village Statistical Area (ANVSA) in 1980, but was uninhabited. It has not reported again since.
See also
*
Native Village of Unga
References
External links
* http://www.placenames.com/us/p1419430
* http://www.dced.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CF_BLOCK.cfm?comm_boro_name=Unga&datatype=overview
1833 establishments in the Russian Empire
1958 disestablishments in Alaska
Ghost towns in Alaska
Populated places in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska
Unga Island
{{AleutiansEastAK-geo-stub