Circle (Alaska)

Circle (also called Circle City; Gwichʼin: Danzhit Khànląįį) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 91, down from 104 in 2010. Circle is 160 mi (260 km) northeast of Fairbanks at the end of the Steese Highway along the Yukon River. Circle was named by miners in the late 19th century who believed that the town was on the Arctic Circle, but the Arctic Circle is about 50 mi (80 km) north of Circle. Circle used to be an active freight hub for many villages along the Yukon. Every February, Circle City hosts a checkpoint for the long-distance Yukon Quest sled dog race. There is only one general store, Hutchinson Commercial, which also sells alcohol and houses the only fuel pump in town. The price of fuel is generally 35-40% higher than prices in Fairbanks. Many of the events in John McPhee's 1976 non-fiction book Coming into the Country occur in Circle. In Truman Capote's non-fiction book In Cold Blood, Perry Edward Smith mentions spending time with his father in Circle City.