Description
Between Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, northernmost point in the United States, Arcitic Plain.
History
Named by Captain Beechey (1831, p. 302), Royal Navy (RN), in Sept. 1826 for Sir John Barrow "to mark the progress of northern discovery * * * advocated by that distinguished member of our naval administration." The point was discovered by Thomas Elson, William Smyth, and the crew whom Beechey sent in an open boat to explore northward when his ship, His (Her) Majesty's Ship (HMS) Blossom, was unable to proceed farther. The Eskimo name for the point is "Nuwak" meaning "point of land". The name "Cape North," originally applied by Thomas Simpson, had some use on early charts before the present name became established.