Deltana, Alaska

History In 1904, the U.S. Army Signal Corps[?] built the McCarty Telegraph station on a site near a roadhouse established the previous year at the intersection of the Tanana and Delta rivers. The Chisana gold strikie[?] of 1913 brought many hopeful prospectors to the area. In the 1920s, many American bison were brought to the area, and in 1927 the name was changed to Buffalo Center.

In 1942, five miles south of Deltana, Fort Greeley was constructed. Beef cattle were shipped during the 1950s, and during the 1970s the local economy was given another boost with with the completion of the trans-Alaska pipeline[?].

In 1980, 70,000 acres of land were set aside as the Delta Bison Range to confine the bision and separate the expanding herd from local farmland.

Geography Deltana is located at 63°57'50" North, 145°24'32" West (63.963825, -145.408931)¹.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1,463.8 km² (565.2 mi²). 1,456.1 km² (562.2 mi²) of it is land and 7.6 km² (3.0 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.52% water.

Demographics As of the census of 2000, there are 1,570 people, 539 households, and 417 families residing in the town. The population density is 1.1/km² (2.8/mi²). There are 669 housing units at an average density of 0.5/km² (1.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 91.59% White, 1.21% African American, 0.89% Native American, 1.08% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.38% from other races, and 4.84% from two or more races. 1.15% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 539 households out of which 36.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.2% are married couples living together, 5.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 22.6% are non-families. 19.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.87 and the average family size is 3.30.

In the town the population is spread out with 31.4% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 30.9% from 45 to 64, and 7.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 39 years. For every 100 females there are 107.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 105.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town is $50,066, and the median income for a family is $53,021. Males have a median income of $42,500 versus $31,042 for females. The per capita income for the town is $18,446. 15.1% of the population and 12.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 19.9% are under the age of 18 and 0.9% are 65 or older.