North Pole, Alaska

North Pole
City
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Borough	Fairbanks North Star
Government
• Mayor	Doug Isaacson
Area
• Total	4.2 sq mi (10.9 km2)
• Land	4.2 sq mi (10.9 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	482 ft (147 m)
Population  (2007)
• Total	2,183
• Density	373.6/sq mi (144.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC-9 (Alaska (AKST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-8 (AKDT)
ZIP code	99705
Area code	907
FIPS code	02-55910
GNIS feature ID	1407230
Website	http://www.northpolealaska.com/

North Pole is a small city in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska metropolitan statistical area. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 1,778. The name "North Pole" is often applied to the entire area bounded by Fort Wainwright, Two Rivers, Alaska, and the Chena River Flood Control Project.

Despite the name, the city is about 1,700 miles south of Earth's geographic North Pole.

The city is a summertime attraction for tourists visiting nearby Fairbanks, and traveling to and from the Alaska Highway and Valdez. Its biggest attraction is a gift shop named Santa Claus House with the world's largest fiberglass statue of Santa Claus outside. Prior to Christmas each year, the USPS post office in North Pole receives hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa Claus, and thousands more from people wanting the town's postmark on their Christmas greeting cards to their families. It advertises the ZIP code 99705 as the ZIP code of Santa.

Christmas-themed streets in North Pole include Santa Claus Lane, St. Nicholas Drive, Snowman Lane, and Kris Kringle Drive. Street lights in the city are decorated in a candy cane motif, and many local businesses have similar decorations. The city's firetrucks and ambulances are all red, while the police cars are all green and white.

A past mayor, Jeff Jacobson, sent a letter (and a lump of coal) to U.S. Senator John McCain about a comment he made regarding why the city's "elves" needed money for a pork barrel project. The lump of coal inside a tin can was delivered to the offices of Senator McCain by local resident Jeff Turkel.

The current mayor of North Pole is Doug Isaacson. The city council consists of six members serving staggered three-year terms, with municipal elections held each October. The mayor's term began October 2009 and ends October 2012.

Geography

North Pole is located at 64°45′4″N 147°21′7″W (64.751048, -147.351969)Template:GR. It is situated 13 miles to the southeast of Fairbanks on the Richardson Highway.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²), of which, 4.2 square miles (10.9 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.47%) is water. The city is located to the north and east of the Tanana River, though access to the river is not easily made due to the extensive system of levees. Beaver Springs Slough meanders through the heart of the city, emptying into Chena Slough.

Demographics

The Santa Claus of North Pole, Alaska

As of 2004, there were 1,675 people, 652 households, and 431 families residing in the city. The population density was 373.6 people per square mile (149.3/km²). There were 653 housing units at an average density of 155.4/sq mi (60.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 80.96% White, 5.67% Black or African American, 3.57% Native American, 2.61% Asian, 0.45% Pacific Islander, 1.15% from other races, and 5.61% from two or more races. 3.76% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 652 households out of which 40.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.8% under the age of 18, 13.2% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 18.5% from 45 to 64, and 5.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 110.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 115.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,563.99, and the median income for a family was $54,993. Males had a median income of $32,917 versus $27,240 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,426. About 5.12% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.0% of those under age 18 and 22.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The city is located in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. North Pole Elementary School, Badger Road Elementary, Ticasuk Brown Elementary, North Pole Junior High, Star of the North, and North Pole High School serve the town. Ticasuk Brown Elementary and Badger Road Elementary schools are actually outside the city limits. However, those students, as well as students from Two Rivers, eventually attend North Pole Middle and North Pole High.

Notable history and residents

• The area that is now North Pole was homesteaded in 1944 by Bon V. Davis. (A fictionalized account of life on this homestead, Battling Against Success, written by his son T. Neil Davis, was published in 1997.) Dahl and Gaske Development Company later purchased the Davis homestead, subdivided it, and named it North Pole, in hopes of attracting a toy manufacturer to the area. The City of North Pole was incorporated on January 15, 1953.

• Conrad B. Miller established a trading post in the area shortly after moving to Alaska in 1950. This business evolved into the Santa Claus House, a top tourist attraction in North Pole, and still operated by the Miller family. One of his sons, Terry (1942-1989), entered politics at age 20, eventually becoming president of the Alaska Senate as well as Lieutenant Governor of Alaska from 1978 to 1982 under Governor Jay Hammond. Another son, Mike (born 1951), was also involved in politics, serving for 18 years in the Alaska Legislature and also serving as Alaska's Commissioner of Administration.

• On April 22, 2006, police arrested several students at North Pole Middle School for allegedly plotting a school shooting, much along the lines of the Columbine High School massacre. Death in Santaland, a TV documentary about the town and the foiled school shooting plot, was made by the British journalist Jon Ronson and broadcast on the television channel More 4 in 2007.

• TV painter Bob Ross stated numerous times during his show that he lived in North Pole for over a decade and that the scenery surrounding the town was of great inspiration for his work.

References in popular culture

• In the Marvel Comics series New Avengers, the town was depicted as destroyed in "the Collective" story arc published over the course of the spring of 2006.

• The ABC reality show Extreme Makeover Home Edition built a new house for a local family in one week in July 2006. The episode of the show was used as a premiere to the show's season, and as a kickoff point for the show's plans to rebuild a home in each state.

External links

• City of North Pole
• North Pole Postmark
• Santa Claus House
• North Pole High School Home Page