Bethel

Sister cities

• Anadyr

History

Southwestern Alaska has been the homeland of Yup'ik peoples and their ancestors for thousands of years. The residents of what became Bethel were called the Mamterillermiut, meaning "Smokehouse People", after their nearby fish smokehouse. In the late 19th century, the Alaska Commercial Company established a trading post in the town, called Mumtrekhlogamute, which had a population of 41 people by the 1880 census. Similar stations were soon started in Kotzebue, and by 1990, there were 10 stations in communities of fewer than 3,500 people. In 2009, Bethel opted out of status as a "Local Option" community, theoretically opening the door to allowing alcohol sales in the city; residents and city officials maintained that all liquor license requests would be actively opposed. In October 2015, though, a vote for allowing alcohol sales in Bethel passed and two liquor licenses were approved for existing stores in the city. In 2012, pranksters distributed flyers falsely announcing the launch of a Taco Bell restaurant in Bethel, prompting Taco Bell to airlift into the town a Taco Bell food truck loaded with ingredients for 10,000 tacos. On November 3, 2015, the Kilbuck building housing both the Ayaprun Elitnaurviat Yup'ik immersion school and the Kuskokwim Learning Academy caught fire, destroying the immersion school and damaging the boarding school. Fire fighters demolished part of the building in an effort to save a media center containing Yup'ik artifacts and elder interviews.

Geography

Bethel is located at (60.792222, −161.755833). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 11.34%, is water. Though the region is flat and generally treeless, Bethel lies inside the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, the second largest wildlife refuge in the United States. Bethel has a subarctic climate (Köppen: "Dfc"), with long, somewhat snowy, and cold winters, and short, mild summers. Normal monthly mean temperatures range from in January to in July, with an annual mean of . Warm days of above can be expected on 14 days per summer. extremes 1923−present) |single line = Y |Jan avg record high F = 37.2 |Feb avg record high F = 39.8 |Mar avg record high F = 39.5 |Apr avg record high F = 52.8 |May avg record high F = 69.0 |Jun avg record high F = 76.1 |Jul avg record high F = 77.7 |Aug avg record high F = 73.0 |Sep avg record high F = 63.5 |Oct avg record high F = 51.4 |Nov avg record high F = 41.1 |Dec avg record high F = 38.2 |year avg record high F = 79.9 |Jan avg record low F = -24.9 |Feb avg record low F = -19.5 |Mar avg record low F = -15.0 |Apr avg record low F = 0.6 |May avg record low F = 22.6 |Jun avg record low F = 35.7 |Jul avg record low F = 41.9 |Aug avg record low F = 38.1 |Sep avg record low F = 27.9 |Oct avg record low F = 10.8 |Nov avg record low F = -8.6 |Dec avg record low F = -20.3 |year avg record low F = -29.7 |Jan record high F = 49 |Feb record high F = 51 |Mar record high F = 53 |Apr record high F = 63 |May record high F = 80 |Jun record high F = 90 |Jul record high F = 89 |Aug record high F = 87 |Sep record high F = 76 |Oct record high F = 65…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,071
• Common Redpoll

  Acanthis flammea (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,060
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  768
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  722
• Wilson's Snipe

  Gallinago delicata (Ord, 1825) · Aves
  693
• Tree Swallow

  Tachycineta bicolor (Vieillot, 1808) · Aves
  691
• American Tree Sparrow

  Spizelloides arborea (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  595
• Fox Sparrow

  Passerella iliaca (Merrem, 1786) · Aves
  575

Largest nearby schools

• Bethel Regional High School
  High · Bethel · 494 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• Gladys Jung Elementary
  Elementary · Bethel · 296 students · 14.8:1 ratio
• Mikelnguut Elitnaurviat
  Elementary · Bethel · 284 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• Ayaprun Elitnaurvik
  Elementary · Bethel · 167 students · 20.9:1 ratio
• Z. John Williams Memorial School
  Other · Napaskiak · 127 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• William Miller Memorial School
  Other · Napakiak · 86 students · 17.2:1 ratio
• Kuskokwim Learning Academy
  High · Bethel · 36 students · 7.2:1 ratio
• Qugcuun Memorial School
  Other · Oscarville (Kuiggayagaq) · 18 students · 18:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2020-07-22
  13 km ENE of Tuluksak, Alaska
• M 2.6 — 2019-06-17
  18 km S of Willow Creek, Alaska
• M 3.6 — 2018-04-03
  25 km SSE of Eek, Alaska
• M 3.4 — 2013-03-11
  18 km NNW of Eek, Alaska
• M 4.4 — 2013-02-23
  19 km NNW of Eek, Alaska
• M 3.5 — 2010-06-01
  9 km SE of Tuluksak, Alaska