KNOM Awards

Nome Photos

Nome is a frontier town, and its rough physical nature reflects that fact. Because every stick of lumber is either barged from Seattle or air freighted from Anchorage, construction is extremely expensive and many people make do with what they can salvage locally. Summers can be cool and wet, and many structures survive ten or fifteen years between coats of paint.

It's a very compact town, with houses generally packed closely together.

Here are a few snapshots. Click on each thumbnail for a full-size image:

     The first three images were taken from the same spot. Front Street is Nome's main street, a half-block from the Bering Sea.

           Here's the northwest corner of Front Street and Lane's Way in the center of town. At left is an office building owned by Sitnasuak Native Corporation, home for the National Park Service, nome.net, Fimon Financial and others. The green structure has seen many uses since about 1935; at right, a building constructed in 1976 to be a pharmacy, now rented for various purposes. (123k)

        Pivot about 45 degrees left, and here's the view down Front Street; in sight are three tavernsand two liquor stores. The large green building, once the North Star Hotel, and then a grocery store, now hosts a restaurant, liquor store and a halfway house. (77k)

        Pivot another 90 degrees to the left. Visible are the Board of Trade and Polar bars, a liquor store, and the Nome post office and federal building. (86k)

    Homes on First Avenue, one block to the north. (120k)

    View looking west from the same point. (62k)

    A couple more homes on First Avenue. (138k)

   Homes on Nome's Third Avenue, a half-block east of the KNOM volunteer dorm. (138k)

         Most of Nome's snowfall is accompanied by high, gusty winds. Some places blow clear, while others drift, as evidenced alongside the Luella Poole Community House volunteer dorm. (94k)

You can find more photographs of Nome and the region at KNOM general manager Tom Busch's photo page.