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Koyuk is located at the mouth of the Koyuk River, at the northeastern
end of Norton Bay on the Seward Peninsula, 90 air miles northeast
of Nome. It lies at approximately 64° 56' N Latitude, 161° 09'
W Longitude (Sec. 32, T006S, R012W, Kateel River Meridian). The
community is located in the Cape Nome Recording District. The area
encompasses 5 sq. miles of land and 0 sq. miles of water.
The site of "Iyatayet" on Cape Denbigh to the south has
traces of early man that are 6,000 to 8,000 years old. The villagers
were historically nomadic. Lt. Zagoskin of the Russian Navy noted
the village of "Kuynkhak-miut" here in 1842-44. A Western
Union Telegraph expedition in 1865 found the village of "Konyukmute." Around
1900, the present townsite began to be populated, where supplies
could easily be lightered to shore. Two boom towns grew up in the
Koyuk region around 1914: Dime Landing and Haycock. The "Norton
Bay Station," 40 miles upriver, was established to supply
miners and residents in 1915. In addition to gold, coal was mined
a mile upriver to supply steam ships and for export to Nome. The
first school began in the church in 1915;
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