Ward Cove (also Wacker, Wacker City, or Wards Cove) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Ketchikan Gateway Borough Ketchikan Gateway Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census its population was 13,948, up from 13,477 in 2010. The borough seat is Ketchikan. The borough is the second most populous borough in Southeast A ...

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., ...

, United States. Its elevation is 164 feet (50 m). It has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

with the ZIP code 99928.USPS – Cities by ZIP Code
/ref> This village is an extension of the settlement area of Ketchikan northwest along the highway. A saltery was established in Ward Cove in 1883-84 by W. W. Waud. Eugene Wacker was first postmaster of the Wacker post office, which was established 1920. The post office name was changed to Wards Cove in 1951 and then to Ward Cove in 1954. The village population was 57 at the

1930 census The United States census of 1930, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during ...

. The name "Ward Cove" was declared official in 1966 by the

Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

. The settlement lies on the northern shore of Ward Cove, at the southwestern end of

Revillagigedo Island Revillagigedo Island ( es, Isla Revillagigedo, , , locally Revilla, ) is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Ketchikan Gateway Borough of the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. Running about 89 km (50 mi) north-s ...

, 4 mi (7 km) northwest of Ketchikan.

Demographics

Ward Cove first appeared on the 1930 U.S. Census as the unincorporated village of "Wacker City." In 1940, the census bureau listed all settlements outside of the incorporated cities of Ketchikan and Saxman that could be reached by road on Revillagigedo Island as "Tongass Highway System", which had 494 residents. It did not report in 1950. In 1960, it returned as Wards Cove. In 1970, it was shortened to Ward Cove. In 1980, Ward Cove along with 6 other locales (Mud Bay, Peninsula Point, Port Higgins, Refuge Cove, Shoreline Drive & Tongass Highway System) were placed into the newly created census-designated place (CDP) of "North Tongass Highway", which had 1,722 residents. In 1990, it and all 6 other CDP's within Ketchikan Gateway Borough were dissolved (which contained 3,556 residents as of 1980). Aside from a southeastern portion of the former North Tongass Highway CDP being annexed into the city of Ketchikan, most of these locales, including Ward Cove, have not been counted within a city or CDP since 1980.

References

Populated coastal places in Alaska on the Pacific Ocean Unincorporated communities in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska Unincorporated communities in Alaska {{KetchikanGatewayAK-geo-stub