St. Michael is located on a St. Michael Island and is 48 miles southwest of Unalakleet; 125 miles southwest of Nome. St. Michaels can be reached by boat, snow machine, scheduled and charter air service from Unalakleet and Nome. St. Michael's population is 299. The zip code is 99659.
St. Michael is 30 feet above sea level. It's climate is subarctic with a maritime influence in summer, when the Norton Sound is ice free (usually June to November), and a cold continental influence during the winter. Summers are moist, with clouds and fog common, but annual precipitation is only 12 inches, much of which occurs in July, August and September. Annual snowfall averages 38 inches, with most of it during October and February. Winter temperatures average -4° and 16°F. Summer temperatures average between 40° and 60°F.
There is an airstrip adjacent and north. Its elevation is 30 feet and the gravel runway is 2,700 feet in length. The airstrip is unattended.
The Russians established a stockade post there in 1833, named after a governor of the Russian-American colony. Its name soon became Michaelovski or Redoubt St. Michael, and the post was the northernmost Russian settlement in Alaska. The Eskimo village of Tachik was located to the northeast.
During the gold rush era at the end of the century, St. Michael became the major gateway to the interior via the Yukon River. A U.S. military post, Fort St. Michael, was established in 1897, but was closed in 1922. As many as 10,000 people were said to live in St. Michael during the Nome gold rush. The village remained an important transshipment point until the Alaska Railroad was built. St. Michael also was a popular trading post for Eskimos trading for Western goods.
Remains of St. Michael's historic past can still be seen. Three Russian-built houses, the hulks of steamboats and several old cemeteries remain. The old Russian church amd most military buildings have been torn down, and an old cannon and other Russian artifacts were moved to Sitka. The sites of the old U.S. fort and the Russian redoubt are on the National Register of Historic Places.
St. Michael is the closest deep-water port to the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers. It remains a transfer point for freight hauled from Seattle on large ocean-going barges to be placed on smaller river barges or shipped to other Norton Sound villages.
St. Michael's economy is based on subsistence food harvest supplemented by part-time jobs.
Residents harvest sea mammals, including seal and beluga whale. Moose and caribou are important winter staples. Summer fishing provides salmon, whitefish, tomcod and herring. Waterfowl, particularly ducks and geese are hunted in nearby marshes. The tundra yields salmonberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and cranberries.
St. Michael is served by Catholic and Assembly of God churches, as well as a school with grades preschool through 12. There is a community electricity system. Water is hauled trom a central watering point. The sewage system is honey buckets. Freight arrives by barge and plane.
