page_title: Utqiagvik, Alaska
section_title: 20th century to the present
hierarchical_section_title: Utqiagvik, Alaska / History / 20th century to the present
caption_attribution_description: English: Memorial commemorating Will Rogers and Wiley Post located at Barrow, Alaska This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 80004564
context_page_description: Utqiaġvik officially the City of Utqiaġvik, formerly known as Barrow, is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska and is located north of the Arctic Circle. It is one of the northernmost public communities in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States. Nearby Point Barrow is the country's northernmost point. Utqiaġvik's population was 4,581 at the 2000 census and 4,212 at the 2010 census.
context_section_description: In 1901, a United States Post Office was opened.
  In 1935, the famous humorist Will Rogers and pilot Wiley Post made an unplanned stop at Walakpa Bay 15 mi (24 km) south of Utqiaġvik, en route to the city. As they took off again, their plane stalled and plunged into a river, killing them both. Two memorials have been erected at the location, now called the Rogers-Post Site. Another memorial is located in Utqiaġvik, where the airport was renamed as the Wiley Post–Will Rogers Memorial Airport in their honor.
  In 1940, the indigenous Iñupiat organized as the Native Village of Barrow Iñupiat Traditional Government (previously, Native Village of Barrow), which is a federally recognized Alaska Native Iñupiat "tribal entity", as listed by the US Bureau of Indian Affairs circa 2003. They wrote a constitution and by-laws, under the provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934. An IRA corporation was also created.
  Utqiaġvik was incorporated as a 1st Class City under the name Barrow in 1958. Natural gas lines were brought to the town in 1965, eliminating traditional heating sources such as whale blubber.
  Residents of the North Slope were the only Native people to vote on acceptance of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act; they rejected it. The Act was passed in December 1971 and, despite their opposition, became law. The Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation (UIC) is the for-profit village corporation established under the Act.
  In 1972, the North Slope Borough was established. With millions of dollars in new revenues from the settlement and later oil revenues, the borough has created sanitation facilities, water and electrical utilities, roads, fire departments, and health and educational services in Utqiaġvik and the villages of the North Slope.
  In 1986, the North Slope Borough created the North Slope Higher Education Center. Renamed Iḷisaġvik College, it is an accredited two-year college providing education based on the Iñupiat culture and the needs of the North Slope Borough.
  The Tuzzy Consortium Library, in the Iñupiat Heritage Center, serves the communities of the North Slope Borough and functions as the academic library for Iḷisaġvik College. The library was named after Evelyn Tuzroyluk Higbee, an important leader in the community.
  Utqiaġvik, like many communities in Alaska, has enacted a "damp" law, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages. It allows for import, possession and consumption of such beverages.
  In 1988, Utqiaġvik became the center of worldwide media attention when three California gray whales became trapped in the ice offshore. After a two-week rescue effort (Operation Breakthrough), a Soviet icebreaker freed two of the whales. Journalist Tom Rose details the rescue, and the media frenzy that accompanied it, in his 1989 book Freeing The Whales. The movie Big Miracle is based on the rescue and was released on February 3, 2012.
  In October 2016, a city referendum renamed the city from Barrow to its traditional Iñupiaq name, Utqiaġvik. The name change officially went into effect on December 1, 2016.
caption: Will Rogers – Wiley Post Memorial
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