Established in 1899, Bettles was once an important and thriving gold mining town until the late 1950s. Gordon Bettles, for whom the town is named, established a trading post here to trade with the gold miners, trappers, and native Athabascan, Kobuk, Selawik, and Nunamiut Eskimos. In its days of glory Old Bettles was the terminus for barges plying the Koyukuk River from ports on the Bering Sea. The U.S. Postal Service operated an office here from 1901 until 1956. A general store and a two-story house of ill repute served the needs of the residents and those who travelled this remote area.
|
