Nome, city, southern Seward Peninsula, northwestern Alaska, a port on Norton
Sound (an arm of the Bering Sea); incorporated 1900. It is a commercial,
transportation, and tourist center of a mining region noted for its gold
production. The city's Eskimo inhabitants produce a variety of handicrafts for
sale. The community was founded during the rush of prospectors to the area
following the discovery of gold at nearby Anvil Creek in 1898. It was called
Anvil City until 1900, when it was renamed for nearby Cape Nome; in that year it
had some 20,000 inhabitants, but the population decreased drastically in the
following years. The city was badly damaged by fire in 1905 and 1934. Gold
mining in the region was revived in the late 1970s.
Seward Peninsula, peninsula, western Alaska, extending into
the Bering Sea. It is bordered on the north by Kotzebue Sound and Goodhope Bay
and on the south by Norton Sound. The peninsula is 290 km (180 mi) long and
210 km (130 mi) at its maximum width. The major industries are gold mining and
animal trapping. The peninsula is also the site of military air bases and
observation posts. The population of the region is sparse, and the principal
settlement is the seaport of Nome. The peninsula was named after the American
statesman William Henry Seward, who effected the purchase of Alaska from
Russia in 1867.
