A history of Cold Bay,
since 1982
Postcards, papers and photographs of Cold Bay from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗There is evidence of prehistoric occupation by Aleuts and later Russian encampments. Cold Bay's significance to American history began with the Japanese invasion of the Aleutians in World War II. General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. ordered the creation of Fort Randall, an airbase on the shores of Cold Bay, in 1942 as a part of a general expansion of American assets in the Aleutians. It (along with Otter Point) served as a base for the 11th Air Force to provide protection to the only deep water port in the Aleutians at the time, Dutch Harbor.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Cold Bay’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewHeadland at Cold Bay, ca. 1910, c. 1910: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Cold Bay, decade by decade
CommonsHeadland at Cold Bay, ca. 1910c. 1910
CommonsCold Bay village, southwest end of the Alaska Peninsula, ca…c. 1912
CommonsThree natives in a bidarki or skin covered boat on Cold Bay…c. 1912
CommonsThree natives in bidarki, or skin covered boat on Cold Bay,…c. 1912
CommonsVillage at Cold Bay, ca. 1912c. 1912
CommonsHouses and beach at Cold Bay, Alaska, 191919191990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Headland at Cold Bay, ca. 1910 (c. 1910) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.