Chatanika, Alaska | |
|---|---|
 Train of the Tanana Valley Railroad at the station in Chatanika, Alaska, 1916 | |
  Chatanika Location in the U.S. state of Alaska | |
| Coordinates (USGS GNIS 1400167): 65°06′44″N 147°28′38″W / 65.11222°N 147.47722°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Borough | Fairbanks North Star |
| Township | T N R W Meridian |
| Settled | 1904 |
| Named for | Chatanika River |
| Government | |
| • Borough mayor | Bryce J. Ward |
| • State senator | Click Bishop (R) |
| • State rep. | Dave Talerico (R) |
| Elevation | 896 ft (273 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-9 (Alaska (AKST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-8 (AKDT) |
| ZIP code | 99712 |
| Area code | 907 (local exchange phones use the 389 prefix) |
| FIPS code | 02-12460 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1400167 |
Chatanika /ˌtʃætəˈniːkə/ is a small unincorporated community located in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States, north-northeast of the city of Fairbanks. The community runs along an approximately 20-mile (32 km) stretch of the Steese Highway, the majority of which sees the highway paralleled by the Chatanika River. The community consists of sparsely scattered residential subdivisions, several roadside businesses, a boat launch where the Steese Highway crosses the Chatanika River, relics of past gold mining operations in the area and the Poker Flat Research Range operated by the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Chatanika was one of over a dozen small communities in the vicinity of Fairbanks whose prosperity was tied to gold mining during the Fairbanks Gold Rush. Chatanika, as the northern terminus of the narrow-gauge Tanana Valley Railroad, also owed much of its early prosperity to railroad operations, which were closely tied to the mining activity. Chatanika, along with Fox, are the only two of the numerous communities in the hills immediately north of Fairbanks which has managed to remain populated and maintain a distinct community identity.
