Ward Cove is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Ketchikan Gateway Borough

Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska

As of the census of 2000, there were 14,070 people, 5,399 households, and 3,633 families residing in the borough. The population density was 11 people per square mile . There were 6,218 housing units at an average density of 5 per square mile...

, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Its elevation is 164 feet (50 m). Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

, with the ZIP code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 of 99928.

This village is an extension of the settlement area of Ketchikan northwest along the highway. A saltery was established in Ward Cove in 1883-84 by W. W. Waud. Eugene Wacker was first postmaster of the Wacker post office, which was established 1920. The post office name was changed to Wards Cove in 1951 and then to Ward Cove in 1954. The village population was 57 at the 1930 census

United States Census, 1930

The Fifteenth United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during the 1920 Census.-Census questions:The 1930 Census...

. The name "Ward Cove" was declared official in 1966 by the Board on Geographic Names

United States Board on Geographic Names

The United States Board on Geographic Names is a United States federal body whose purpose is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the U.S. government.-Overview:...

.

The settlement lies on the northern shore of Ward Cove, at the southwestern end of Revillagigedo Island

Revillagigedo Island

Revillagigedo Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Ketchikan Gateway Borough of the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. Running about 89 km north-south and 48 km east-west, it is 2,754.835 km² in area, making it the 12th largest island in the United...

, 4½ mi (7¼ km) northwest of Ketchikan, Alex. Arch.