Adak Alaska

Adak, Alaska, is a remote city and census-designated place on Adak Island in the Aleutians West Census Area of southwestern Alaska, located on Kuluk Bay and known as the westernmost community in the United States; the island and surrounding Aleutian chain are traditional homeland of the Unangax^ (Aleut) people, with human occupation dating back thousands of years prior to European contact and seasonal use continuing into the 19th century after Russian fur trade exploration in the 1700s and early 1800s. After the 1867 U.S. purchase of Alaska, the island remained sparsely inhabited until World War II, when the U.S. Army established a major military airfield and base in August 1942 to support operations against Japanese forces in the Aleutians; this military buildup transformed Adak into a populated hub through the Cold War, with thousands of service members and their families, and the Naval Air Facility Adak remained active through March 31, 1997. Following base closure, the community was incorporated as a second-class city in April 2001, and much of the former military infrastructure and land was transferred to The Aleut Corporation under a 2004 land transfer agreement, with local records and newspapers (including vital events) useful for genealogical research dating primarily from the WWII and postwar eras.