Flat, Alaska
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Flat is a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area,
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the CDP was 0, down from 4 residents in 2000. Its post office closed in January 2004. Few buildings are inhabitable with hundreds of collapsed ruins.


History

Prospectors John Beaton and W.A. Dikeman discovered gold on Otter Creek on December 25, 1908. News of the discovery spread slowly, but some miners arrived in the summer of 1909 and built a small camp they called Flat City. More gold was discovered on nearby Flat Creek and more miners arrived in 1910. Beaton, Peter Miscovich, Lars Ostnes, and David Strandberg were prominent early arrivals who mined successfully long after the initial boomtown faded. By 1914, the community had grown to about 6,000 people, complete with an elementary school, a telephone system, two stores, a hotel, restaurant, pool hall, laundry and jail. However, a fire in 1924 caused the majority of the town to burn. By 1930, the population had declined to 124. No
plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
was filed for Flat, and the town site rests on mining claims, so the existence of Flat may contravene the law, but the U.S. Post Office acknowledged the community and served its few residents with an office until the year 2000. Between 1986 and 2000, the primary year-round residents were a family of five who worked together to maintain the area in the winter for mining in the summer.


Wiley Post 1933 airplane crash

In July 1933, pioneering aviator
Wiley Post Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was an American aviator during the Aviation between the World Wars, interwar period and the first aviator, pilot to fly solo around the world. Known for his work in high-altitude flyi ...
undertook the first solo flight around the world. On July 20, en route to Fairbanks from a stop in Khabarovsk, Siberia, Post nosed over his high-wing, single-engine
Lockheed Vega The Lockheed Vega is an American five- to seven-seat high-wing monoplane airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation starting in 1927. It became famous for its use by a number of record-breaking pilots who were attracted to its high speed and lo ...
, the '' Winnie Mae'', in Flat. Local residents helped him right the aircraft. The only damage was a broken propeller. A replacement propeller was brought to Flat by pioneer Alaska flier Joe Crosson and the airplane was repaired by John Miscovich. Post continued to Fairbanks, then on to Edmonton and New York, completing his solo flight around the world in under 8 days. 50 years later, Miscovich constructed a monument to commemorate Post's first solo flight around the world.


Geography

Flat is located at (62.454135, -158.008284), 7 miles southeast of Iditarod. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the CDP has a total area of , all of which of is land and none of it is covered by water.


Climate


Demographics

Flat first appeared on the 1920 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It would continue to appear until 1960. It did not appear again until 2000 when it was made a census designated place (CDP) with its boundaries including the former city of Iditarod and the former mining village of
Otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...
. As of 2010, it has no residents. *Note that the population of 6,000 for 1914 during its peak year is speculative and not an official count by the U.S. Census Bureau.


2000 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 4 people in 1 household (a married couple with children, in this case) and in 1 family residing in the town. The population density was . There were 3 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was all
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
. In the CDP, the population was evenly spread out over the age categories under-18, 18 to 24, 25 to 44 and from 45 to 64. The median age was 33 years. There were as many males as there were females, but apparently the only person below 18 was a girl.


2010 census

The 2010 census, reported a population of 0.


See also

* Iditarod, Alaska, the former river port for Flat * John Miscovich, the "mayor of Flat", whose family acquired the claims of departing miners, eventually owning 1,400 acres of Otter Valley.The Golden Years
John Miscovich profile, LA Times, March 20, 1992


References


External links


Alaska Division of Community Advocacy - Community Information Summary
{{authority control Census-designated places in Alaska Census-designated places in Unorganized Borough, Alaska Census-designated places in Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Ghost towns in Alaska