North Pole, Alaska facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
North Pole, Alaska
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| City of North Pole | ||
An aerial view of North Pole in January 2011, looking north. The Tanana River is to the southwest.
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| Motto(s):
"Where the Spirit of Christmas Lives Year Round!"
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Where North Pole is located in the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the U.S. state of Alaska
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| Country | United States | |
| State | Alaska | |
| Borough | Fairbanks North Star | |
| Incorporated | January 15, 1953 | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | Home rule city | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 4.10 sq mi (10.62 km2) | |
| • Land | 4.08 sq mi (10.58 km2) | |
| • Water | 0.01 sq mi (0.04 km2) | |
| Elevation | 482 ft (147 m) | |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 2,243 | |
| • Density | 549.08/sq mi (212.00/km2) | |
| Time zone | UTC-9 (Alaska (AKST)) | |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-8 (AKDT) | |
| ZIP code |
99705
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| Area code | 907 | |
| FIPS code | 02-55910 | |
| GNIS feature ID | 1407230 | |
North Pole is a small city in Alaska, United States. It is part of the Fairbanks North Star Borough. The city was officially started in 1953. In 2020, about 2,243 people lived there. Even though it's called North Pole, the city is actually about 1,700 miles (2,700 km) south of the Earth's real North Pole. It is also about 125 miles (201 km) south of the Arctic Circle.
Contents
What Makes North Pole Special?
North Pole is a popular place for tourists, especially in summer. Many visitors come from nearby Fairbanks. It's also on the Richardson Highway, which means people traveling to or from the Alaska Highway and Valdez often pass through.
The city is famous for its Christmas theme. You'll see street names like Santa Claus Lane, St. Nicholas Drive, Snowman Lane, and Kris Kringle Drive. The streetlights look like candy canes. Many local businesses also have Christmas decorations. Even the city's vehicles are festive: firetrucks and ambulances are red, and police cars are green and white!
North Pole was once home to oil refineries, which were a big part of its economy. However, they closed because of pollution in the groundwater.
Santa Claus House and the Post Office
The biggest attraction in North Pole is the Santa Claus House. It started as a trading post many years ago. Today, it's a large gift shop. Outside, you can see the world's largest fiberglass statue of Santa Claus. There's also a small group of real reindeer nearby.
Every year before Christmas, the USPS post office in North Pole gets hundreds of thousands of letters for Santa Claus. Thousands more letters come from people who want the special North Pole postmark on their Christmas greeting cards. The post office even advertises the ZIP code 99705 as Santa's own ZIP code. There's also a special program where volunteers respond to letters sent to "1 Santa Claus Lane."
Roller Derby Fun
North Pole also has a unique all-female Roller Derby team called the North Pole Babes in Toyland (NPBT). The athletes on this team have fun skater names inspired by Christmas and North Pole themes!
How North Pole Began
In the 1940s and 1950s, the area south of Fairbanks had many small farms and plots of land.
The main part of what is now North Pole was settled in 1944 by Bon V. and Bernice Davis. The Alaska Railroad built a train stop on their land and called it Davis. This name was used for the small settlement for a while.
In 1952, a company bought the Davis land. They divided it into smaller lots and renamed the area "North Pole." They hoped this name would attract a toy company to build a factory there. The City of North Pole officially became a city on January 15, 1953. James Ford became the first mayor.
Conrad B. Miller, one of the first city council members, opened a trading post in 1952. This business grew into the famous Santa Claus House. It was also North Pole's first post office for almost 20 years.
In the 1970s, a new, wider highway was built. This highway bypassed the old downtown area. Later, in 1977, an oil refinery started operating. This led to more development, including a shopping mall and a high school.
Over the years, new road interchanges were built to make travel safer and easier. These changes helped reduce serious accidents on the highway.
City Government and Leaders
The city government of North Pole has had some interesting moments. In the past, a mayor was criticized for working two full-time jobs. Another time, a mayor sent a lump of coal to a U.S. Senator as a joke about funding for a city project.
The current mayor of North Pole is Michael Welch. The city council has six members who serve for three years. Elections are held every October. One notable city council member is Santa Claus, who was elected in 2019.
North Pole's Location and Environment
North Pole is located at 64°45′04″N 147°21′07″W / 64.75111°N 147.35194°W. It is about 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Fairbanks. As mentioned, it's very far from the actual geographic North Pole.
The city covers about 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²). Most of this is land, with a small amount of water. The city is near the Tanana River, but it's hard to get to the river because of many protective walls called levees. A small stream called Beaver Springs Slough flows through the city.
The ZIP Code for North Pole is 99705. This ZIP code covers a large area between two military bases, Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base.
Weather in North Pole
_-_NORTH_POLE,_AK.svg)
North Pole has a subarctic climate. This means it has very cold, long winters and short, mild summers. The temperature changes a lot between seasons.
Winters can be extremely cold, often many tens of degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Average low temperatures stay below 0°F (–18°C) from November to March. In fact, the Santa Claus House is closed on weekdays in January and February because of the extreme cold.
Summers can be warm, with many days in the 70s and 80s °F (20s °C). Sometimes, temperatures can even reach the 90s °F (30s °C).
The coldest temperature ever recorded in North Pole was -67°F (-55°C) in January 1975. The warmest was 95°F (35°C) in June 1969 and June 1983.
North Pole experiences about 239 days a year where nighttime temperatures are below freezing (32°F or 0°C). About 115 days a year have nighttime temperatures below 0°F (-18°C).
| Climate data for North Pole, Alaska (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1968–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 55 (13) |
49 (9) |
60 (16) |
76 (24) |
86 (30) |
95 (35) |
91 (33) |
92 (33) |
77 (25) |
74 (23) |
50 (10) |
47 (8) |
95 (35) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 29.3 (−1.5) |
35.6 (2.0) |
47.5 (8.6) |
62.2 (16.8) |
76.3 (24.6) |
84.8 (29.3) |
85.0 (29.4) |
80.3 (26.8) |
69.1 (20.6) |
54.5 (12.5) |
31.0 (−0.6) |
29.2 (−1.6) |
87.2 (30.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | −1.6 (−18.7) |
11.6 (−11.3) |
26.1 (−3.3) |
46.3 (7.9) |
61.7 (16.5) |
71.5 (21.9) |
72.6 (22.6) |
65.9 (18.8) |
54.6 (12.6) |
32.9 (0.5) |
9.8 (−12.3) |
1.8 (−16.8) |
37.8 (3.2) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | −8.7 (−22.6) |
1.5 (−16.9) |
13.2 (−10.4) |
34.4 (1.3) |
49.5 (9.7) |
60.1 (15.6) |
62.3 (16.8) |
56.2 (13.4) |
45.0 (7.2) |
25.7 (−3.5) |
3.1 (−16.1) |
−5.1 (−20.6) |
28.1 (−2.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | −15.8 (−26.6) |
−8.6 (−22.6) |
−0.3 (−17.9) |
22.5 (−5.3) |
37.2 (2.9) |
48.6 (9.2) |
52.1 (11.2) |
46.6 (8.1) |
35.5 (1.9) |
18.5 (−7.5) |
−3.6 (−19.8) |
−12.1 (−24.5) |
18.4 (−7.6) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −48.0 (−44.4) |
−38.1 (−38.9) |
−28.9 (−33.8) |
−4.7 (−20.4) |
21.9 (−5.6) |
34.4 (1.3) |
39.2 (4.0) |
30.7 (−0.7) |
19.4 (−7.0) |
−7.0 (−21.7) |
−29.8 (−34.3) |
−40.1 (−40.1) |
−50.8 (−46.0) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −67 (−55) |
−59 (−51) |
−52 (−47) |
−32 (−36) |
6 (−14) |
22 (−6) |
31 (−1) |
21 (−6) |
−1 (−18) |
−41 (−41) |
−51 (−46) |
−62 (−52) |
−67 (−55) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.48 (12) |
0.44 (11) |
0.32 (8.1) |
0.34 (8.6) |
0.66 (17) |
1.91 (49) |
2.62 (67) |
2.61 (66) |
1.42 (36) |
0.96 (24) |
0.61 (15) |
0.48 (12) |
12.85 (326) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 9.4 (24) |
7.2 (18) |
5.1 (13) |
1.6 (4.1) |
0.4 (1.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
1.6 (4.1) |
7.7 (20) |
11.8 (30) |
9.2 (23) |
54.0 (137) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 inch) | 6.6 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 9.3 | 10.3 | 12.7 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 6.6 | 86.7 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 8.6 | 6.5 | 5.0 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 6.9 | 10.0 | 8.8 | 48.5 |
| Source: NOAA | |||||||||||||
People of North Pole
| Historical population | |||
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| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1960 | 615 | — | |
| 1970 | 265 | −56.9% | |
| 1980 | 724 | 173.2% | |
| 1990 | 1,456 | 101.1% | |
| 2000 | 1,570 | 7.8% | |
| 2010 | 2,117 | 34.8% | |
| 2020 | 2,243 | 6.0% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
North Pole first appeared in the U.S. Census in 1960. In 2000, there were 1,570 people living in the city. About 38.5% of households had children under 18. The average household had about 2.58 people.
The population was spread out by age:
- 29.8% were under 18
- 13.2% were 18 to 24
- 33.3% were 25 to 44
- 18.5% were 45 to 64
- 5.2% were 65 or older
The average age in the city was 29. The median income for a family was $54,583.
Learning in North Pole
The schools in North Pole are part of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. The city has:
- North Pole Elementary School
- North Pole Middle School
- North Pole High School
Students from nearby areas like Midnight Sun, Ticasuk Brown, and Two Rivers also attend the middle and high schools in North Pole.
Famous People from North Pole
Several notable people have connections to North Pole:
- Daryn Colledge (born 1982) - An NFL player who grew up in North Pole.
- Pheonix Copley (born 1992) - A professional ice hockey goaltender.
- Terry Miller (1942–1989) - A politician who served as president of the Alaska Senate and Lieutenant Governor of Alaska.
- Mike W. Miller (born 1951) - Terry Miller's brother, also a politician who served in the Alaska Legislature.
- Bob Ross (1942–1995) - The famous TV painter. He often said on his show that he lived in North Pole for over ten years. He found a lot of inspiration for his paintings from the scenery there.
- Lee Shaner (born 1981) - Also known as Intuition, an American rapper.
- Gene Therriault (born 1960) - Another politician who served as president of the Alaska Senate.
- Santa Claus (born Thomas Patrick O'Connor, 1947) - A current city council member known for looking like and acting like the legendary Santa Claus.
Images for kids
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Beaver Lake in North Pole, AK
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See also
In Spanish: North Pole para niños
