Circle, Alaska

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Circle (also called Circle City;

Circle is 160 mi (260 km) northeast of Fairbanks at the end of the Steese Highway along the Yukon River. Circle was named by miners in the late 19th century who believed that the town was on the Arctic Circle, but the Arctic Circle is about 50 mi (80 km) north of Circle. Circle used to be an active freight hub for many villages along the Yukon.

Every February, Circle City hosts a checkpoint for the long-distance Yukon Quest sled dog race.

There is only one general store, Hutchinson Commercial, which also sells alcohol and houses the only fuel pump in town. The price of fuel is generally 35-40% higher than prices in Fairbanks.

Many of the events in John McPhee's 1976 non-fiction book Coming into the Country occur in Circle.

In Truman Capote's non-fiction book In Cold Blood, Perry Edward Smith mentions spending time with his father in Circle City.

Geography

Circle is located at 65°50′4″N 144°4′35″W / 65.83444°N 144.07639°W / 65.83444; -144.07639 (65.834464, -144.076392).^[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 108.2 square miles (280 km²), of which 107.7 square miles (279 km²) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) (0.50%) is water.

Climate

According to the

There were 34 households, of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 11.8% were married couples living together, 32.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 3.48.

29.0% of the population was under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 30.0% from 45 to 64, and 4.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 115.2 males.

The

History

Circle was established in 1893 when

Circle lost much of its population after gold discoveries in the Klondike in 1897, and Nome in 1899. A few miners stayed near Circle. Mining in the area has continued into the 21st century. Most of the residents of Circle today are Athabascan.

Education

Yukon Flats School District operates the Circle School.^[9]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Circle, Alaska.