Editing Dillingham, Alaska (section)

== History ==
[[File:Dillingham, Alaska court house.jpg|thumb|Courthouse in Dillingham]]
Dillingham and its surrounding areas were inhabited by the [[Yup'ik]] people for millennia, who lived off of the land and sea. [[Royal Navy|British Navy]] Captain [[James Cook]] first charted the Bristol Bay region in 1778, but did not venture into [[Nushagak Bay]]. The [[Russian-American Company]] built a redoubt ([[trading post]]) at Nushagak Point, across the river from present-day Dillingham, in 1818; named "Alexandrovski" after the [[Tsar|czar]],<ref name="alcommdb">[http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CIS.cfm?comm_boro_name=Dillingham Dillingham] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110412070421/http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CIS.cfm?Comm_Boro_Name=Dillingham |date=April 12, 2011 }} from the Alaska Community Database</ref> the post attracted [[North American fur trade|fur traders]] from as far as the [[Kuskokwim River]], the [[Alaska Peninsula]], and [[Cook Inlet]]. In 1837, a [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]] mission was built at Nushagak,<ref name="alcommdb"/> but the post's status was later downgraded in favor of other Russian-American Company posts in the [[Kuskokwim Mountains|Kuskokwim]]. In 1881, after the [[Alaska Purchase]] by the United States, the [[United States Army Signal Corps|U.S. Signal Corps]] built a [[weather station]] at Nushagak.

In 1883, the Arctic Packing Company constructed the first [[Canning|cannery]] and seafood-processing plant in Bristol Bay at Kanulik, across the river from the site of modern-day Dillingham. Operations began the following year, with a pack of 400 cases of [[salmon]], or 19.2k one-pound cans. By 1903, a total of ten canneries had been built along the Nushagak, including four within the city's current limits, producing as many as one million cases of [[Canned fish|canned salmon]] annually. Most of these canneries were closed in the 20th century for a variety of reasons, including [[coastal erosion]], [[siltation]], [[Consolidation (business)|consolidation]], and general changes in the industry, such as shifting focus to frozen fish.

In 1901, the Alaska-Portland Packers Association built a cannery near Snag Point, at what is now the city's central business district. This cannery burned down in 1910, but was rebuilt the following year and was acquired by Pacific American Fisheries in 1929. Now known as [[Maruha Nichiro|Peter Pan Seafoods]], the cannery in downtown Dillingham remains operational, and other seafood companies maintain corporate offices and support facilities within the city's limits.

A [[courthouse]] was built in Kanakanak in 1903 and named after United States Senator [[William P. Dillingham|William Paul Dillingham]] of [[Vermont]], whose senate [[Committee|subcommittee]] investigated conditions in Alaska following the [[Klondike Gold Rush|1898 gold rush]]. Despite extensive travels throughout the territory, neither Dillingham nor his subcommittee ever set foot in the Bristol Bay region. Nonetheless, the post office later adopted the name, as did the entire community.

In 1918 and 1919, the global [[Spanish flu|Spanish flu pandemic]] struck Bristol Bay, leaving no more than 500 survivors around Dillingham. A hospital and orphanage was established in Kanakanak after the [[epidemic]], {{convert|6|mi|0}} south of downtown Dillingham. An [[Indian Health Service]] hospital, operated by the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation, remains at Kanakanak.

The ''Dillingham News'', the first local newspaper, was published in 1947 by the Dillingham Volunteer Fire Department as a way to attract new members. It was soon succeeded by the ''Beacon of Dillingham'', a newspaper closely aligned by the unions of resident fishermen and cannery workers. Both were simple [[mimeograph]] editions.

In 1951, powerboats were first allowed to replace the sailboats used by fishermen in the Bristol Bay salmon fishery.

The City of Dillingham incorporated as a first class municipality in 1963.

In 1974, the first regional [[AM radio]] station for the Bristol Bay region was built by the Dillingham City School District under an educational grant. With the call letters [[KDLG (AM)|KDLG]] and operating at 670&nbsp;kHz, the station continues to provide education, entertainment, and important safety information to the fishing fleet and the surrounding communities. It is part of the [[National Public Radio]] (NPR) and [[Alaska Public Radio]] (APRN) networks.

Present-day industries around Dillingham are commercial salmon and [[herring]] fishing, seafood processing, sport fishing, government-related jobs and tourism.

Dillingham attracted national attention in 2006, when it installed 80 cameras at city-owned facilities and locations, such as the docks, harbor and police station,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dillinghamdps.us/community_camera.html|title = Dillinghamdps.us}}</ref> all funded by a [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Department of Homeland Security]] grant.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dillinghamdps.us/faq.html#2moneysource|title = Dillinghamdps.us}}</ref> The city justified the cameras by stating that they enhanced the ability to monitor and enforce security measures at those properties. Many criticized the project as an infringement on privacy, and also were critical that the funds were intended for national, rather than local, public safety issues. After spirited public debate, locally and nationally, the community held a referendum vote on the system on October 12, 2006, resulting in a rejection of the anti-camera initiative by a vote of 370 to 235.

On August 9, 2010, a [[2010 Alaska Turbo Otter crash|DHC-3T Texas Turbine Otter crashed]] near Dillingham due to [[fog]] and reduced visibility. Former [[President pro tempore|President Pro Tempore]] and Senator [[Ted Stevens]] was among the five killed aboard the plane. There were four survivors, including former [[Administrator of NASA|NASA Administrator]] and [[Airbus|EADS]] executive [[Sean O'Keefe]].

On September 2, 2015, [[Barack Obama|President Barack Obama]] visited Dillingham, as a part of his second-term trip around Alaska to call attention to [[climate change]].