Adak
Adak
is located in the Andreanof Islands, 1,300 miles southwest of Anchorage
and 350 miles west of Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, in the Aleutian Island
Chain. Flight time to Anchorage is three hours. Adak is the
southern-most community in Alaska, on the latitude of Vancouver Island
in Canada. It lies at approximately 51° 45' N Latitude, 176° 45' W
Longitude (Sec. 10, T096S, R195W, Seward Meridian). The community is
located in the Aleutian Islands Recording District. The area encompasses
122 sq. miles of land and 5 sq. miles of water.
The
Aleutian Islands were historically occupied by Aleuts. The once
heavily-populated island filled with many Aleut villages was eventually
abandoned in the early 1800s as the Aleut hunters followed the Russian
fur trade Eastward and famine set in on the Andreanof Island group.
However, they continued to actively hunt and fish around the island over
years, until World War II broke out. Adak was developed as a Naval Air
Station after the War, playing an important role during the Cold War as
a submarine surveillance center. Large earthquakes rocked the Island in
1957, 1964 and 1977. At its peak, the station housed 6,000 naval
personnel and their families. In 1994, severe cut-backs occurred, and
family housing and schools were closed. The station officially closed on
March 31, 1997, and currently houses approximately 30 Navy personnel and
200 civilian caretakers. Space Mark, Inc., a subsidiary of The Aleut
Corporation, is the contracted caretaker of the Adak facilities while
environmental remedial work is being completed. Adak Reuse Corporation,
the designated local reuse authority, is coordinating and implementing
economic adjustment efforts to make Adak a viable economic center of
commercial activities. The community has petitioned the Local Boundary
Commission for incorporation as a second class city.
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