Map of Thorne Bay city

Thorne Bay is a city in Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 476, up from 471 in 2010.

Thorne Bay city overview:
Name:	Thorne Bay city
LSAD Code:	25
LSAD Description:	city (suffix)
State:	Alaska
County:	Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area
Incorporated:	August 9, 1982
Elevation:	128 ft (39 m)
Total Area:	29.72 sq mi (76.97 km²)
Land Area:	26.67 sq mi (69.08 km²)
Water Area:	3.04 sq mi (7.88 km²)
Total Population:	476
Population Density:	17.85/sq mi (6.89/km²)
ZIP code:	99919
Area code:	907
FIPS code:	0277140
GNISfeature ID:	1669435

Online Interactive Map

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

Thorne Bay location map. Where is Thorne Bay city?

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

History

Thorne Bay is named for Frank Manly Thorn, who served as Superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1885 to 1889. The name of the bay was misspelled when published in the original record, and the spelling was never corrected to match the spelling of Thorn’s last name.

Thorne Bay originally began as a large logging camp for the Ketchikan Pulp Company in 1960 that was originally located in Hollis. Being a floating camp at the time, most Hollis residents resided in float houses. In the 1960s and 1970s it was the largest logging camp in North America and was host to over 1500 residents at its peak. It became a second-class city in 1982 and in 2001 the logging company pulled out having been a victim of breach of contract from the U.S. Forest Service. The U.S. Forest Service signed a fifty-year contract in 1954 guaranteeing 150 million board foot (350 thousand m) per year for the pulp mill and sawmills in Ketchikan. By 1990 that figure was down to approximately 50 million board foot (120 thousand m) per year. Currently Thorne Bay features many seasonal residents and an employment sector based primarily in Forest Service and public education.

Thorne Bay Road Map

Thorne Bay city Satellite Map

Geography

Thorne Bay is located at 55°40′38″N 132°33′22″W / 55.677232°N 132.556246°W / 55.677232; -132.556246.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.4 square miles (79 km), of which, 25.5 square miles (66 km) of it is land and 4.8 square miles (12 km) of it (15.85%) is water.

Climate

The average temperature of Thorne Bay is 45 °F, which is much higher than the Alaska average temperature of 32 °F and is much lower than the national average temperature of 54 °F.