Platinum, Alaska

Platinum (Central Yupik: Arviiq) is a city in Alaska.

Platinum Arviiq
City
Destroyed airplane at Platinum, 1948
Platinum Location in Alaska
Coordinates: 59°0′47″N 161°48′59″W
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Census Area	Bethel
Incorporated	February 13, 1975[1]
Area [2]
• Total	47.31 sq mi (122.53 km2)
• Land	47.27 sq mi (122.41 km2)
• Water	0.05 sq mi (0.12 km2)
Elevation	13 ft (4 m)
Population  (2020)[3]
• Total	55
• Density	1.16/sq mi (0.45/km2)
Time zone	UTC-9 (Alaska (AKST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-8 (AKDT)
ZIP codes	99651
Area code	907
FIPS code	02-61080

Geography

Platinum is located at 59°00′47″N 161°48′59″W.^[4] It is located on Goodnews Bay adjacent to the mouth of the Small River and eleven miles southwest of Goodnews and the Kilbuck Mountains.^[4]

History

Platinum was named in the 1930s due to the platinum ore found in the area. The site was a mining boomtown by 1937 boasting a roadhouse, two trading posts and a population of fifty. A post office had been established in 1935. An earlier Inuit village called Arviq had been abandoned. The town was incorporated as a city in 1975.^[4]

References

1. 1996 Alaska Municipal Officials Directory. Juneau: Alaska Municipal League/Alaska Department of Community and Regional Affairs. January 1996. p. 120.
2. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
3. "Platinum city, Alaska". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
4. GNIS Feature Detail Report for: Platinum^{[permanent dead link]}