Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Golovin, AK

Golovin is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, on a point of land between Golovnin Bay and Golovnin Lagoon on the Seward Peninsula, about 65 miles east of Nome.

The 2020 census counted 175 people in Golovin, living in 52 households, with a median age of 30.8 years and 90.9 percent of residents Alaska Native.

Golovin was originally an Inupiat village called Chiniq, from the Inupiaq name Singik or the Central Yupik name Cingik.

The town is named for Russian Vice-Admiral Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin, and its name is a misspelling of his, while the bay and lagoon keep the correct spelling.

The Russian explorer Lavrenty Zagoskin reported the village as Ikalikguigmyut in 1842, and in 1867 the Mission Covenant of Sweden established a church and school south of the present site.

Around 1890 John Dexter established a trading post at Golovin that became the center for swapping prospecting information for the entire Seward Peninsula, and after gold was discovered at Council in 1898, Golovin became a supply point whose goods were shipped across Golovnin Lagoon and up the Fish and Niukluk rivers.

Golovin declined in population when gold was discovered at Nome and mining and shipping activity moved there.

Reindeer herding was introduced in the Golovin area about 1900.

Golovin appeared on the 1890 census as the native village of Ikaleaveagmiut, reported as Cheennik Village in 1900, and did not report again until 1930 under the name Golovin, formally incorporating as a city on March 26, 1971.

Golovin is used as a checkpoint on the Iditarod trail to Nome.