The northern-most city in Alaska, the United States and North America. The sun does not set in Barrow, Alaska between may 10th and august 2nd every year and it does not rise in Barrow, Alaska between November 18th and January 24th every year.
Location / Coordinates: Part of the North Slope Borough and the Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation, Barrow, Alaska is also known by its Native name, Ukpeagvik. Barrow, Alaska is located on the coast of the Chukchi Sea on the Artic Ocean, ten miles south of Point Barrow. Barrow, Alaska lies 725 air miles north of Anchorage, and 340 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
Coordinates: Latitude N71.29, & Longitude W-156.79
Population / Elevation: Over 4,000 people live in or close to Barrow, Alaska. Barrow is home to one of the largest Eskimo populations in the world, most of them are of Inupiat ancestry. At sea level, Barrow, Alaska has views for as far as the eye can see in any direction.
Description: Barrow, Alaska is a collection of buildings scattered along the beach. There is ice and snow, treeless windswept tundra, and wide, open skies filled with millions of stars and the colorful Northern Lights in the winter season and every hue of blue in the summer season. Dog sled is a traditional mode of transportation in Barrow in the winter season.
What to do there: Enjoy the culture of the Inupiat, this is and has been their home for thousands of years. Taste their foods, enjoy their art, respect their ways of life. Bring your camera, there may a polar bear just around the corner, or a whale blowing in the distance.
The Will Rogers and Wiley Post monument, just across from the airport commemorates the 1935 airplane crash that killed the humorist and the pilot.
In October the Fall Whaling Season begins. Spring Whaling Season begins in May and is celebrated (Nalukataq) in June and early July.
Bird watchers flock to Barrow during the summer season to spot over 150 species. Barrow is one of the top birding spots in Alaska.
History: The Inupiat have inhabited the Arctic, for thousands of years. Evidence exists today that this area was inhabited from about 5000 to 900 A.D. Archealogical remains of sixteen dwelling mounds from the Birmirk Culture can still be seen. These early residents of Barrow, Alaska survived, and thrived, by hunting whales, seals, and walrus, fishing and inland hunting.
Barrow, Alaska borrowed its name from Point Barrow. Point barrow was named for Sir John barrow of the British Admiralty. In the early 1800s the British were plotting the Arctic coastline in North America. By 1881, the U.S. Army established a meteorological and magnetic research station at Barrow. A decade later the Cape Smythe Whaling and Trading Station was established. By the turn of the century Barrow, Alaska had a post office and a Presbyterian Church. By the mid 1940s oil exploration had begun.
The Naval Arctic Research Laboratory was built in the 1940s just north of Barrow, Alaska. The Naval Arctic Research Laboratory has taken the place of expeditions to the Arctic to gather scientific information. Scientific study of the Arctic is now done with satellites, and automated instruments or sensors taking readings on the ice, in the ocean, or on land. Using computers data is compiled and analyzed.
Oil was discovered in nearby Prudhoe Bay and construction of the oil fields and the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline began in March 1975 and was completed in May 1977. The pipeline covers over 800 miles of Alaskan landscape. It crosses three mountain ranges, and over 800 rivers. The pipeline is 48 inches in diameter. Nearly 21,600 people were employed to build the pipeline at the peak of its construction.
The tax revenues from the North Slope oil fields fund many borough and Barrow services. The North Slope also provides many high-paying jobs to those living in Barrow, Alaska.
Traditional marine mammal hunts and other subsistence practices are an active part of daily life in Barrow, Alaska. There are craftsmen, skilled in the traditional ways, who still make the skin boats called umiaq. Whaling captains use the umiaq made of bearded seal skin to hunt the Bowhead Whale. These men are, like generations of men before them, responsible for feeding their communities. The umiaq is lightweight and easy to carry over the ice. It is silent in the water unlike an aluminum boat. An aluminum boat in the ice leads is noisy and scares away the bowhead whales. The Whaling captain and his crew wear white parkas on the ice so the surfacing whales will not see them. Whale hunting is dangerous. Using small boats, the crew of three men must get very close to the whale to use the hand-held harpoon with a darting gun. Once the whale is killed, it is towed to shore and the waiting villagers. There it is winched onto the beach and butchered.
How to get there: Regularly scheduled air services from Anchorage and Fairbanks keeps Barrow connected to the rest of the world, year ‘round. Sea and land transportation provide seasonal access and only to limited destinations.
Facilities: There is a hospital and a couple of health clinics in and around Barrow, Alaska. The hospital is a qualified Acute Care Facility and State-certified Medivac Service.
The King Eider Inn of Barrow, Alaska is “the best hotel in Barrow.” There are several places to eat—pizza, Mexican, and American food.