Updated on Apr 13, 2021
Cold Bay (, Sugpiaq: Pualu ) is a city in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 108, but at the 2020 census this had reduced to 50.
Cold Bay is one of the main commercial centers of the Alaska Peninsula, which extend west towards the Aleutian Islands, and is home to Cold Bay Airport.
There is evidence of prehistoric occupation by Aleuts and later Russian encampments. Cold Bay's significance to American history began with the Japanese invasion of the Aleutians in World War II. General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. ordered the creation of Fort Randall, an airbase on the shores of Cold Bay, in 1942 as a part of a general expansion of American assets in the Aleutians. It (along with Otter Point) served as a base for the 11th Air Force to provide protection to the only deep water port in the Aleutians at the time, Dutch Harbor.
This protection was necessary when during Yamamoto's Midway Campaign, a diversionary attack was launched against Dutch Harbor. The initial attack was repulsed by the surprise presence of P-40s stationed here. A second larger attack with its own fighter escort the next day caused minor damage. Later, with the victory in the Pacific, the forces grew to 20,000 troops. The quonset huts used to house this massive encampment still stand around the community. It also was a base of operations for the US Navy with the seaplane tender among the ships based in Cold Bay.
In the spring and summer of 1945, Cold Bay was the site of the largest and most ambitious transfer program of World War II, Project Hula, in which the United States transferred dozens of ships and craft to the Soviet Union and trained Soviet personnel in their operation in anticipation of the Soviet Union entering the war against Japan.
In later decades, control of the airfield passed to civil authorities, who maintained it as a useful refueling and emergency landing location for great circle flights from the west coast of the United States to East Asia. A Distant Early Warning Line station established nearby was eventually decommissioned.
During the 1980s, deregulation of the airline industry under President Ronald Reagan caused many of the compelling interests supporting the need for the community to evaporate. Today, Cold Bay is still occasionally used for emergency or precautionary landings of commercial flights, and is also a hub for traffic from Anchorage and Seattle to the small communities around it.
Cold Bay is located at (55.209038, -162.714298). It is west of Hawaii.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it (23.34%) is water.
Cold Bay holds the record for most overcast community in America.
Cold Bay has an either an ocean-moderated subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfc ) if the 0 °C isotherm is used, or a subpolar oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfc ) if the isotherm is used, both of those climate being typical of southwest Alaska, though the summers are almost cool enough to qualify as a tundra (Köppen climate classification: ET ). Cold Bay is considered the cloudiest place in the United States, with an average of 304 days of heavy overcast (covering over 3/4 of the sky).
Notes:
Cold Bay first appeared on the 1890 U.S. Census as the unincorporated area of "Thin Point", which included Thin Point & Cold Bay (including two canneries and Cold Bay Salting Station). It reported 231 residents, of which 110 were White, 106 were Asian, ten were Creole (Mixed Russian & Native), three were Native and two were Other. It would not appear again until 1960, when it reported as the unincorporated village of Cold Bay. It was made a census-designated place (CDP) in 1980 and incorporated in 1982.
Cold Bay is a highly transient community, lacking the generational attachment characteristic of the surrounding native villages. Residents, drawn to the area largely by the Wildlife Refuge, Weather Service, or air traffic jobs, rarely stay more than a year in Cold Bay.
At the 2000 census, there were 88 people, 36 households and 18 families residing in the city. The population density was 1.6 per square mile (0.6/km). There were 98 housing units at an average density of 1.8 per square mile (0.7/km). The racial makeup of the city was 72% White, 3% Black or
More about COLD BAY under "Town Info"
This page uses material from the Wikipedia article Cold Bay, Alaska , which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.