WHERE WE ARE

ABOUT DOT LAKE

Dot Lake and Dot Lake Village are on the Alaska Highway, 50 miles northwest of Tok and 155 road miles southeast of Fairbanks. These two settlements are located on the southern edge of the Tanana River floodplain.  

Archaeological evidence at nearby Healy Lake revealed more than 10,000 years of human habitation. Dot Lake was used as a seasonal hunting camp for Athabascans from George Lake and Tanacross. A Native freight trail ran north to the Yukon River through Northway, Tetlin, Tanacross, and Dot Lake.

 During construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942-43, a work camp called Sears City occupied Dot Lake’s present location. In 1946, the Dot Lake Native village was first settled by Doris Charles and her family from Tanacross. Fred and Jackie Vogle were the first non-Native settlers in the area. By 1949, residents constructed a lodge, post office, school, and the Dot Lake Community Chapel. Today Native families living at Dot Lake retain their subsistence lifestyles of hunting and fishing.