Map of Ruby city, Alaska

Ruby (Koyukon: Tl’aa’ologhe) is an incorporated town in central western Alaska, situated on the south bank of the Yukon River at the northwesternmost tip of the Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge. It is accessible only by boat or air. A formerly sizeable gold-mining and lumbering town servicing the region, at the 2010 census the population was just 166, with only a general store and post office remaining as businesses, down from 188 in 2000.

Ruby city overview:
Name:	Ruby city
LSAD Code:	25
LSAD Description:	city (suffix)
State:	Alaska
County:	Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area
Incorporated:	September 25, 1973
Elevation:	249 ft (76 m)
Total Area:	7.03 sq mi (18.19 km²)
Land Area:	7.03 sq mi (18.19 km²)
Water Area:	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Total Population:	139
Population Density:	19.79/sq mi (7.64/km²)
ZIP code:	99768
Area code:	907
FIPS code:	0265590
GNISfeature ID:	1408878

Online Interactive Map

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Ruby online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Ruby location map. Where is Ruby city?

Ruby location on the Alaska map. Where is Ruby city. — Location of Ruby in Alaska.

History

The town of Ruby was established in 1911 as the result of a gold rush. The amount of gold that is in the Fairbanks district is over 8 million troy ounces (250 tonnes) of gold, lodes have yielded over 4 million ounces. Gold was first discovered at the current townsite in 1906 on Ruby Creek. That discovery brought more prospectors to the area. In 1910 word leaked out about a gold strike on Long Creek, 30 miles south of Ruby, and a stampede was on. Discoveries on other nearby creeks followed and Ruby became the supply point for the mines.

At its peak the population was near 3,000, but by 1918 the town was in steep decline. Many of the men had left to fight in World War I, and several of the towns business people and their families were lost in the sinking of the Canadian passenger liner Sophia. A fire in 1929 destroyed much of the business district and a flood in 1931 took out what was left of buildings on the riverfront.

After World War II, Native Americans from near-by Kokrines relocated to Ruby to take advantage of the abandoned homes. There are currently fewer than 200 people living in Ruby.

The largest gold nugget ever found in Alaska, 294.10 troy ounces (322.67 oz; 9,148 g), was found near Ruby in 1998.