Portlock, Alaska
{{Short description|Ghost town in Alaska, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Portlock
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|settlement_type = Ghost town
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|pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of Alaska
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|map_caption = Location within Alaska
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = United States
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|subdivision_name1 = Alaska
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|timezone = Alaska (AKST)
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|elevation_ft = 36
|coordinates = {{coord|59.2144444|-151.7461111|type:city_region:US-AK_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
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Portlock (Sugpiaq: Arrulaa'ik) is a ghost town in the US state of Alaska, located on the southern edge of the Kenai Peninsula, around {{convert|16|mi|km}} south of Seldovia. It is located in Port Chatham bay, from which an adjacent community takes its name.{{cite web|work=Alaska Magazine|title=Something's Afoot in Port Chatham – Century-old Rumors Persist of a Terror in the Mountains|date=April 8, 2016|accessdate=November 21, 2017|url=http://www.alaskamagazine.com/articles/somethings-afoot-in-port-chatham-century-old-rumors-persist-of-a-terror-in-the-mountains/}} Named after Nathaniel Portlock, the town was an active cannery community in the early 20th century.
History
=Establishment=
Portlock was established in the Kenai Peninsula in the early 20th century as a cannery, particularly for salmon.{{cite web|work=The Seattle Times|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20000726/4033727/erling-nilson-81-made-smoked-fish-popular-delicacy|date=July 25, 2000|author=Nelson, Charles E.|title=Erling Nilson, 81, made smoked fish popular delicacy|access-date=May 9, 2018}} It is thought to have been named after Captain Nathaniel Portlock, a British ship captain who sailed there in 1786. In 1921, a United States Post Office opened in the town.{{cite web |author=Klouda |first=Naomi |date=October 28, 2009 |title=Haunting memories — 'Nantiinaq' sightings, spirits led to desertion of Native village |url=https://redoubtreporter.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/haunting-memories-%e2%80%94-%e2%80%98nantiinaq%e2%80%99-sightings-spirits-led-to-desertion-of-native-village/ |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220023816/http://homertribune.com/2009/10/port-chatham-left-to-spirits/ |archivedate=December 20, 2011 |publisher=Homer Tribune |via=The Mouth of the Kenai |location=Homer, Alaska}} The population largely consisted of Russian-Aleuts.
=Abandonment=
After the construction of Alaska Route 1, Portlock, along with other towns, was abandoned in favor of communities along the opposite edge of the Kenai Peninsula that were accessible via the highway and, therefore, mainland Alaska. While some stories connected the town's abandonment with a local forest spirit Nantiinaq (sometimes associated with Bigfoot), the accounts emerged decades later, in the 2000s. These were later reported to be fabricated.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Darren “HarpDaddy” |date=2021-04-20 |title=Framing Nantiinaq: Alaska’s best known cryptid homicide case debunked |url=https://www.anchoragepress.com/news/framing-nantiinaq-alaska-s-best-known-cryptid-homicide-case-debunked/article_ed6facfe-a1f9-11eb-b7fc-0bba856ee2fe.html |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=The Anchorage Press |language=en}} Official records indicate that the town's post office closed between 1950 and 1951, marking its formal abandonment.{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Alaska Place Names|year=1967|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_0y48AQAAMAAJ/page/n785 773]|author=Orth, Donald J.|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|via=Internet Archive|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_0y48AQAAMAAJ|quote=alaska portlock chatham abandonment.}}{{cite news|work=Fairbanks Daily News-Miner|location=Fairbanks, Alaska|title=Capital News Letter|last=Council|first=Mary Lee|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36356608/fairbanks_daily_newsminer/|date=September 17, 1951|page=2|via=Newspapers.com}}
= Post abandonment =
Most of the people who left Portlock in the 1940s moved to the nearby Native Alaskan villages of Nanwalek and Port Graham. The village of Nanwalek still maintains private ownership of Portlock today.{{Cite web|last=Seward|first=Carey|date=December 27, 2020|title=This Abandoned Ghost Town In Alaska Is Downright Bone Chilling|url=https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/alaska/this-abandoned-ghost-town-is-downright-bone-chilling-ak/|access-date=December 1, 2021|website=OnlyInYourState|language=en-US}} In recent years, the community has considered the possibility of re-establishing Portlock as a village.{{Cite web|date=April 8, 2016|title=Alaska Magazine {{!}} Something's Afoot in Port Chatham – Century-old Rumors Persist of a Terror in the Mountains|url=https://alaskamagazine.com/authentic-alaska/somethings-afoot-in-port-chatham-century-old-rumors-persist-of-a-terror-in-the-mountains/|access-date=December 1, 2021|website=Alaska Magazine|language=en-US}}
Nearby communities
Portlock was located adjacent to another community known as Port Chatham (which takes its name from Port Chatham bay). Seldovia is located {{circa}} {{convert|16|mi|km}} north of Portlock; a chromite mining camp, known as Chrome,{{cite book|title=Anchorage and the Cook Inlet Basin|year=1983|page=70|publisher=Alaska Geographic Society|isbn=978-0-882-40172-0}} was also located near Portlock, which operated in the early-twentieth century.{{cite book|title=Bulletin – United States Geological Survey, Volumes 710–712|chapter=Mineral Resources of Alaska, 1918|page=34|year=1920|author=U.S. Geological Survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3MlAQAAIAAJ|via=Google Books}} {{open access}}
Demographics
{{US Census population
|1940= 31
|1980= 31
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 6, 2013}}
}}
Portlock first appeared on the 1940 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village of 31 residents. It would not report again on the census until 1980, when it was made a census-designated place (CDP), again reporting 31 residents. It was dissolved as a CDP by the 1990 census and has not reported again.
In popular culture
In the spring of 2021, Discovery+ filmed a reality television series in Portlock. The series, Alaskan Killer Bigfoot, follows a scout team exploring the ruins of the abandoned village.{{Cite web|date=November 30, 2021|title=New Show Set in Portlock Explores Legend of Bigfoot|url=https://www.kbbi.org/local-news/2021-11-30/new-show-set-in-portlock-explores-legend-of-bigfoot|access-date=December 1, 2021|website=KBBI AM 890|language=en}} Alaskan Killer Bigfoot premiered on Discovery+ on December 7, 2021. It made its linear cable television debut on Travel Channel on June 26, 2022.{{Cite web |url=https://watch.travelchannel.com/show/alaskan-killer-bigfoot-travel-channel-atve-us |title=Archived copy |access-date=August 22, 2022 |archive-date=August 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814155443/https://watch.travelchannel.com/show/alaskan-killer-bigfoot-travel-channel-atve-us |url-status=dead }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{GNIS|1413807|Portlock (locale)}}
- {{Skeptoid | id= 4772| number=772 | title= The Monster of Port Chatham| date= March 23, 2021| last= | first= | access-date=March 23, 2021}}
- [https://www.anchoragepress.com/news/framing-nantiinaq-alaska-s-best-known-cryptid-homicide-case-debunked/article_ed6facfe-a1f9-11eb-b7fc-0bba856ee2fe.html Alaska’s Best Known Cryptid Homicide Case Debunked]
{{Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska}}
Category:1950 disestablishments in Alaska
Category:Ghost towns in Alaska