History
Prospectors John Beaton and W.A. Dikeman discovered gold on Otter Creek on 25 December 1908. News of the discovery spread slowly, but a some miners arrived in the summer of 1909 and built a small camp they called Flat City. More gold was discovered on nearby Flat Creek and more miners arrived in 1910. Beaton, Peter Miscovich, Lars Ostnes, and David Strandberg were prominent early arrivals who mined successfully long after the initial "boomtown" faded. By 1914, the community had grown to about 6,000 people, complete with an elementary school, a telephone system, two stores, a hotel, restaurant, pool hall, laundry and jail. However, by 1930, the population had declined to 124. No plat was filed for Flat, and the town site rests on mining claims, so the existence of Flat may contravene the law, but the U.S. Post Office acknowledged the community and served its few residents with an office until the year 2000.
Between 1986 and 2000, the Primary year-round residents were a small family of five who worked together to maintain and upkeep the area in the off season for mining. A husband, wife, and their three children; two sons and a daughter.
Read more about this topic: Flat, Alaska
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