Chena, Alaska facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chena, Alaska
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Ghost Town
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View of Chena on the Tanana River, 1907
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 Chena, Alaska
Location in Alaska
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| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Borough | Fairbanks North Star |
| Elevation | 430 ft (131 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-9 (Alaska (AKST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-8 (AKDT) |
| ZIP code |
99709
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| Area code | 907 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1893892 |
Chena was a former city in interior Alaska, located in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States, near the confluence of the Chena and Tanana rivers. It incorporated in 1903 and was disincorporated in 1973. The area is now part of the outskirts of Fairbanks, within the CDP of Chena Ridge. Its heyday was in the first two decades of the 20th century, with a peak population of about 400 in 1907. By 1910 the population had fallen to 138.
The city was fairly prosperous for a time, and even had its own newspaper, the Tanana Miner, which later was purchased by the Fairbanks Daily News (now the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner), running concurrently with it for a time. Other businesses included two hotels, two general stores, a bakery, a laundry, and two restaurants. By 1910, Chena had a police department, a public school, churches, and a fire department. By 1915, however, the population had dropped to 50. With the death of the city's last business owner, grocer Harry Beldon, in 1920, the population had dropped to only 18. The town gradually faded away, resurging in modern times as a suburb of Fairbanks.
The Tanana Valley Railroad had its southern terminus in Chena, but moved its general manager's office to Fairbanks in 1915. There was a pump station to provide water for the hydraulic mining operations on the other side of Chena Ridge, near Ester. The Chena Pump House is now a restaurant and tourist attraction.
Demographics
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| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1910 | 138 | — | |
| 1920 | 18 | −87.0% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
Chena first appeared on the 1910 U.S. Census as an incorporated city. It appeared once more in 1920, the last time it was returned separately. As of 2010, it now lays within the Chena Ridge CDP (census-designated place).
It is estimated that there were about 2,400 people living in Chena at its peak, around 1907-1908. Because the census data was taken in 1910, it did not reflect the population during that boom.
