Chitina

History

Athabascans have lived in the area around Chitina for centuries as evidenced by the archaeological sites south and east of Chitina. Before 1900, Chitina was the site of large village whose population was slowly decimated by the influx of people, disease and conflicts. Copper ore was discovered in about 1900 along the northern edge of the Chitina River valley. This brought a rush of prospectors and homesteaders to the area. Stephen Birch homesteaded the site in 1908. The Copper River and Northwestern Railway enabled Chitina to develop into a thriving community by 1914. It had a general store, a clothing store, a meat market, stables, a tinsmith, five hotels, several rooming houses, a pool hall, bars, restaurants, dance halls and a movie theater. From 1933 until the closure of the mines in 1938, the general store was managed by Otto Moses of Des Moines, Washington, recruited by O.A. Nelson. The mines closed in 1938 and the remaining support activities moved to what is now the Glennallen area. Chitina became a virtual ghost town. Otto Adrian Nelson, a surveying engineer for the Kennecott Mines, eventually bought up much of the town. He built a unique hydroelectric system that supplied electric power to all his buildings. He also supplied much of the town center with hot and cold running water. Current activity in Chitina revolves around the dipnet fishing for salmon that occurs every summer. Alaskans are allowed to dip a large number of salmon during their spawning runs and Chitina is an accessible and popular place for this activity. In late 1977, jeweler Art Koeninger purchased the Chitina Tin Shop with the intention of turning it into a residence. In 1979, the site, formerly known as Fred's Place and Schaupp's, was placed on the National Register of Historic…

Geography

Chitina is located on the west bank of the Copper River at its confluence with the Chitina River on the Edgerton Highway, and junction with the McCarthy Road. It is southeast of Copper Center and southeast of Glennallen. It is outside the western boundary of the Wrangell - St Elias National Park and Preserve. In 1945, work had begun to convert the CR&NW railroad line, from Cordova to Kennicott, into a highway, but work halted with the 1964 Good Friday earthquake, leaving a significant gap between Chitina and the Million Dollar Bridge near Cordova. The rail route from Chitina to Kennicott is a roadway, the McCarthy Road. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it (11.62%) is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Yellow-rumped Warbler

  Setophaga coronata (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  74
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  74
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  72
• Swainson's Thrush

  Catharus ustulatus (Nuttall, 1840) · Aves
  66
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  63
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet

  Regulus calendula (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  56
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  50
• Orange-crowned Warbler

  Leiothlypis celata (Say, 1822) · Aves
  48

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2026-09-09
  16 km SSE of Kenny Lake, Alaska
• M 2.7 — 2026-05-10
  5 km ENE of Chitina, Alaska
• M 3.3 — 2026-03-17
  49 km SW of McCarthy, Alaska
• M 2.6 — 2026-02-28
  32 km SSW of Tonsina, Alaska
• M 2.6 — 2025-08-12
  1 km E of Tazlina, Alaska
• M 2.5 — 2025-06-04
  60 km ENE of Cordova, Alaska