Chicken, Alaska

History

Chicken was settled by gold miners in the late-19th century. In 1902 the local post office was established, requiring a community name. Legendarily, due to the prevalence of ptarmigan in the area, that name was suggested as the official name for the new community. However, the spelling could not be agreed on, and "Chicken" was used to avoid embarrassment. However, this is likely apocryphal, since it was popularized in the 1940s, almost 50 years after the town was founded. The most likely origin is from nearby Chicken Creek, as noted by Josiah Edward Spurr in 1896, “The creek is so named from the size of the gold, which is about that of chicken feed (corn).”

A portion of Chicken, with buildings from the early 1900s and the F.E. Company Dredge No. 4 (Pedro Dredge), is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Chicken Historic District. Chicken is the outpost for the 40-Mile mining district. There are still active gold mines and inactive gold dredges in this area. Enough gold was mined here to make it worthwhile to haul huge gold dredges to this remote location.

On September 7, 2021, Jack in the Box released an ad campaign claiming to have purchased the town for 10,000 Cluck Chicken Sandwiches and a commemorative hat. The company explains on a website created for the campaign this was only an ad, but that the company has donated $10,000 to help the town amid the pandemic. However, as of September 2021 the downtown area of Chicken (not owned by Jack in the Box) was for sale, including the Chicken Creek Cafe, the Chicken Creek Saloon, a liquor store, a gas station, the Chicken Mercantile Emporium, and a 1400-sq.-ft. residential cabin.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 115.4 sqmi, all of it land.

Chicken is accessible by air via Chicken Airport, and by road via Alaska Route 5, the Taylor Highway, which is not maintained from mid-October through mid-March.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Chicken has a dry-winter subarctic climate (Koppen: Dwc), it is characterized by extremely cold and long winters and warm, short summers. The average temperature of Chicken is 20.2 F, July is the hottest month with 56.1 F, and the coldest month is January with -20.0 F. Although Chicken has a latitude of 64°N, it is hardly affected by the Chinook winds. So far, the maximum temperature in January has never exceeded 32 F, and the extreme high temperature in December is also 32 F. Even in the hottest months, nighttime temperatures are low enough that there is a greater chance of frost in the hottest months of the year, June and July. Extreme temperatures range from -72 F to 91 F. Among them, four days of extreme low temperature were recorded, namely January 1, 2000, February 7–8, 2008, and December 31, 1999. Chicken holds the United States record for the coldest temperature ever recorded in the country in December. Chicken's extreme high temperature was recorded for two days; both occurred on July 4 and 7, 1998. The record cold daily maximum is −64 °F, set on January 1, 2000, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum is 61 °F on June 9, 2017. The coldest day of the year averaged -49 F in the 1991 to 2020 normals, while the warmest night average was at 53 F.

|Jan record high F = 31 |Feb record high F = 43 |Mar record high F = 54 |Apr record high F = 75 |May record high F = 84 |Jun record high F = 90 |Jul record high F = 91 |Aug record high F = 87 |Sep record high F = 72 |Oct record high F = 64 |Nov record high F = 35 |Dec record high F = 32 |year record high F = 91 |Jan avg record high F = 15.2 |Feb avg record high F = 24.1 |Mar avg record high F = 41.7 |Apr avg record high F = 57.8 |May avg record high F = 74.5 |Jun avg record high F = 81.8 |Jul avg record high F = 82.4 |Aug avg record high F = 79.0 |Sep avg record high F = 66.1 |Oct avg record high F = 49.2 |Nov avg record high F = 23.7 |Dec avg record high F = 18.9 |year avg record high F = 84.3 |Jan avg record low F = -58.7 |Feb avg record low F = -47.7 |Mar avg record low F = -37.4 |Apr avg record low F = -12.4 |May avg record low F = 16.3 |Jun avg record low F = 27.1 |Jul avg record low F = 31.3 |Aug avg record low F = 23.7 |Sep avg record low F = 10.9 |Oct avg record low F = -12.5 |Nov avg record low F = -36.9 |Dec avg record low F = -47.3 |year avg record low F = -61.2 |Jan record low F = -72 |Feb record low F = -72 |Mar record low F = -58 |Apr record low F = -32 |May record low F = 5 |Jun record low F = 15 |Jul record low F = 24 |Aug record low F = 19 |Sep record low F = -7 |Oct record low F = -39 |Nov record low F = -52 |Dec record low F = -72 |year record low F = -72 |access-date=June 8, 2023}} |access-date = August 11, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230608021409/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00501684&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL |archive-date = June 8, 2023 |access-date = August 11, 2022

Demographics

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References

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
2. Gallant, Frank K.. (2012). "A Place Called Peculiar: Stories about Unusual American Place-Names". Courier Dover Publications.
3. Mackenzie, B. B.. (June 5, 2012). "Alaska Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff". Rowman & Littlefield.
4. "How did the tiny Alaska village of Chicken get its name?". Anchorage Daily News.
5. "Jack Owns Chicken {{!}} Jack in the Box".
6. "Jack in the Box {{!}} Jack Owns Chicken".
7. Attas, Amy. (February 14, 2021). "Own downtown Chicken, Alaska for just $750,000 - West Coast Traveller".
8. "U.S. Decennial Census". Census.gov.