Emergency Crime Scene and Biohazard Cleanup in Aniak, AK

Aniak (Central Yupik: Anyaraq) is a city in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, on the south bank of the Kuskokwim River at the head of Aniak Slough, 92 miles northeast of Bethel and 317 miles west of Anchorage.

The city had a population of 507 in the 2020 census, with 156 households, and it was incorporated on May 10, 1972.

The name Aniak is the Central Alaskan Yup'ik name for the area and means 'the place where it comes out,' referring to where the Aniak River flows into the Kuskokwim River.

Aniak first appeared on the 1940 census as an unincorporated village, after the local Yup'ik people had deserted the original village there by the early 19th century when Russian explorers arrived.

Russian traders discovered a mercury deposit near Kolmakov Redoubt, 22 miles east of Aniak, in 1838, and placer gold was found in New York Creek, 30 miles east of town, in 1844.

The Yellow River Stampede of 1900 brought prospectors from Nome into the Kuskokwim basin on rumors of a gold strike, and gold was later found at Marvel, Fisher, and Dome creeks about 50 miles south of Aniak in 1911.

In 1914, Tom L. Johnson homesteaded the site of the long-abandoned Yup'ik village and opened a store and post office to serve prospectors and miners in the vicinity.

Construction of an airfield began in 1939 in anticipation of the Lend-Lease program, and with the airfield in place Aniak became the transportation hub for nearby villages including Chuathbaluk, Anvik, Kalskag, Crooked Creek, and Holy Cross.

In 1956, during the Cold War, construction of a White Alice Relay Station began, bringing the first telephone capable of long-distance calls to the Aniak Lodge in 1957 and helping the population more than double from 142 in 1950 to 308 in 1960.

Aniak's climate is maritime in summer and continental in winter, with temperatures ranging from minus 72 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit and average yearly precipitation of 19 inches, including 60 inches of snowfall.