Fort Davis was a
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
post established in the
Nome Census Area of
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 ...
in 1900. It was named for General
Jefferson C. Davis, the military commander of Alaska from 1868 to 1870.
The
Nome Gold Rush led to unrest from
claim jumping, claim filing errors, and a general lack of authority. The Army was sent to the
Nome area to maintain order. Before Fort Davis was established, soldiers from the port of St. Michael were sent to maintain order in Nome. St. Michael was a transit harbor for the
Klondike gold rush and due to its growth during the rush, a military fort was built there in 1897.
Fort Davis was abandoned around 1917 or possibly later based on other sources.
[Finding aid for the William A. Moore collection at the Alaska State Library Historical Collection]
or the finding aid for the Ole Christian Nerby collection at the University of Alaska Anchorage Archives and Special collection
/ref>
Demographics
Fort Davis appeared once on the 1910 U.S. Census as an unincorporated military installation. Owing to its deactivation around 1917, it was not reported again.
Gallery
File:Fortdavis-buildings.jpg, Barracks at Fort Davis, 1900
File:Nome-mapdet-1908.jpg, Blueprint of Nome and Fort Davis 1908
File:fort-davis-1909.jpg, Map of fort itself 1909
File:Soldiers-in-nome-1908.jpg, Parade in Nome 1908 showing soldiers
References
1900 establishments in Alaska
Buildings and structures in Nome Census Area, Alaska
Davis
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