Klawock, Alaska
Klawock, Alaska
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2292096

Klawock, Alaska

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2292096

Klawock, Alaska

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Klawock, Alaska

Klawock (Tlingit: Lawáak) is a city in Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area, in the U.S. state of Alaska, on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, on Klawock Inlet, across from Klawock Island. The population was 755 at the 2010 census, down from 854 in 2000. It is located 90 kilometres (56 mi) from Ketchikan, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from Craig, and 39 kilometres (24 mi) from Hollis.

Klawock's first settlers were Tlingit who came from the northern winter village of Tuxekan. They used it as a fishing camp for the summer period, and called it by several different names: Klawerak, Tlevak, Clevak, and Klawak. The name "Klawock" is derived from the Tlingit name Lawá, the man who founded the community. In 1853 a Russian navigator referred to the village as "Klyakkhan", and in 1855 as "Thlewakh".

In 1868, European Americans opened a trading post and a salmon saltery; some years later, in 1878, a San Francisco firm opened the first cannery in Alaska. In the following decades, several others were established. A United States post office was established in 1882. The 1890 census recorded the town's population as 260.

The Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) and Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS), nonprofit organizations working for civil rights of Alaska Natives, were established by residents in 1912. Its founders and many volunteers built the Town Hall and a community center in 1939, during the Great Depression.

In 1929 the town was incorporated as a city, and in 1934 Congress awarded federal funding for the expansion of the cannery, on the condition that the community remains liquor-free. At the same time, the Klawock Cooperative Association (a nonprofit organization) was formed to manage the cannery.

In 1931 John Barrymore looted a Totem pole from the abandoned village of Tuxekan; in 2015 the pole was returned to the Tlingit.

Klawock is located at 55°33′18″N 133°05′07″W / 55.55500°N 133.08528°W / 55.55500; -133.08528. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2), of which, 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2) of it (34.83%) is water.

Klawock has a warm summer oceanic climate.

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