Gold discoveries in the Chandalar region in 1907 led to the founding of Beaver. It was established as the Yukon River terminus for miners heading north to the gold fields. The Alaska Road Commission built a trail from Beaver north to Caro on the Chandalar River around 1907. In 1910, Thomas Carter and H.E. Ashelby established a store at Beaver, and three freight companies operated on the trail, commonly known as Government Road. In 1911, about the time the gold rush was over, Frank Yasuda, a Japanese who had traded at Point Barrow and prospected in the Brooks Range, arrived with a group of Eskimos and became a partner in the trading post. They served the remaining mines in the region, supplied riverboats with firewood, and traded with Eskimo and Indian fur trappers. A post office was established in 1913, and a second trading post opened in the early 1920s. The first Beaver school opened in 1928, and an airstrip was built in the 1930s. Beaver's population remained stable from 1950 through the 1970s. In 1974, the village council purchased the local store and set it up as a cooperative, with villagers holding shares of stock.
To Community Histories Index Alaska DCCED Community Database Online
History and map graphic used with permission from the Alaska Department of Community and Economic Development