Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska Genealogy

Guide to Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
Formerly part of the Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan Census Area, the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area was renamed in 2008 after it lost most of the Outer Ketchikan to the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. It has no borough seat. This census area is located in the southeastern part of the state.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this census area:

History Timeline

 * Prince of Wales Island is the fourth-largest island in the United States (after Hawaii, Kodiak Island, and Puerto Rico), and the 97th-largest island in the world. It was explored by the Russians, Spanish, British, and French, and was named for George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales (later King George IV).
 * The community of Hyder is the easternmost town of Alaska and is notable for being the only place in Alaska not to use the 907 area code, instead using British Columbia's 250. Tourists also find that Hyder uses the Pacific Time Zone, the "preferred" currency is Canadian (except the U.S. Post Office, which accepts only American currency), observes Canadian holidays, send their children to a Canadian school, and calling the police means a Canadian Mountie will respond. Electricity comes from Canada, as the local electric utility is British Columbia's BC Hydro.
 * This area is traditional Tlinget territory, with the Haida tribes resettling on the island in the late 18th century from what is now Northern British Columbia. In 1887, William Duncan, a lay minister of the Anglican Church, settled Annette Island with a group of Tsimshian natives from Metlakatla, British Columbia, founding the community of "New" Metlakatla.

Census Records

 * See also Using the Census to find other records about ancestors

Church Records
 List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this area - How to Use FS Places

Directories

 * Alaska Online Historical Directories - identifies historical city, county, business and other directories available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this borough - How to Use FS Places

Military Records

 * 1898-1934 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

World War II
 * 1940-1945 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records
 * 1884-1991 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1900-1972 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Newspapers

 * Alaska Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites. Includes a title for Thorne Bay.
 * 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)

Birth

 * 1816-2005 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Marriage

 * 1816-2005 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Death

 * 1816-2005 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

FamilySearch Centers

 * Ketchikan Alaska FamilySearch Center
 * Sitka Alaska FamilySearch Center
 * Petersburg Alaska FamilySearch Center
 * Wrangell Alaska FamilySearch Center

Websites

 * Ketchikan Gateway Borough and Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area AKGenWeb
 * USGenWeb Archives
 * Linkpendium
 * Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan Trails to the Past
 * Genealogy Trails
 * The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.