![Union Fish Co's codfish station, Pirate Cove, Popof Island, Alaska, May 1913 (COBB 287)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Union_Fish_Co%27s_codfish_station%2C_Pirate_Cove%2C_Popof_Island%2C_Alaska%2C_May_1913_%28COBB_287%29.jpeg)
Popof Island (Siitikdax̂
in
Aleut
The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the U ...
) is an island in the
Shumagin Islands
The Shumagin Islands (Unangan: ''Qagiiĝun''; russian: Острова Шумагина) are a group of 20 islands in the Aleutians East Borough south of the mainland of Alaska, United States, at
54°54'–55°20' North 159°15'–160°45' West. ...
south of mainland
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
. The largest community in the area,
Sand Point, is located on the northwest coast. Popof Island is long, wide and the peak elevation is . It is located at . It has a land area of 93.651 km
2 (36.159 sq mi) and a total population of 578 persons at the
2020 census.
![Codfish station at Pirate Cove, Alaska, June 1912 (COBB 145)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Codfish_station_at_Pirate_Cove%2C_Alaska%2C_June_1912_%28COBB_145%29.jpeg)
Pirate Cove on the island was developed as a major
codfish
Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not calle ...
fishing station.
A herd of introduced bison is on the uninhabited side of the island and currently numbers about 120.
Demographics
![Union Fish Co's codfish station, Pirate Cove, Popof Island, Alaska, June 1912 (COBB 176)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Union_Fish_Co%27s_codfish_station%2C_Pirate_Cove%2C_Popof_Island%2C_Alaska%2C_June_1912_%28COBB_176%29.jpeg)
Popof Island first appeared as a separate political entity on the 1890 U.S. Census with a population of 146. Of these, 135 were White, 7 were Creole (Mixed Russian & Native), 3 were Asian and 1 was Native. This included 3 settlements on the island: Pirate Cove (a codfishing Station), which had previously appeared on the 1880 census separately with 7 residents (all White), located on the northeast side of the island;
[http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1880a_v1-17.pdf ] Red Cove (a fishing station) on the south side of the island; and Sand Point Station on the northwestern side of the island. Census enumerators also counted all the ships that were docked at Pirate Cove (including schooners ''Trapper'' and ''Unga'') and those at Sand Point (including schooners ''Alexandria'', ''City of San Diego'', ''James Hamilton'', ''Kate and Annie'', ''San Diego'', ''C.N. Smart'' & ''C.H. White'').
Beginning in 1900, Popof Island villages reported separately. Red Cove was abandoned. Pirate Cove appeared once more on the 1920 census (population 98) before it was abandoned. Sand Point became the dominant village on the island, growing from 16 residents in 1900 to 976 by 2010, but was reduced to 578 at the 2020 Census. It incorporated as a city in 1966 and became important enough to be made the equivalent of county seat (borough seat) for the
Aleutians East in 1987. As of 2000, all residents of Popof Island reside within the city limits of Sand Point.
References
Popof Island: Blocks 3003 thru 3019, Census Tract 1, Aleutians East Borough, AlaskaUnited States Census Bureau
Shumagin Islands
Islands of Alaska
Islands of Aleutians East Borough, Alaska
{{AleutiansEastAK-geo-stub