Elfin Cove Seaplane Base
airport in Alaska, United States of America
Elfin Cove Seaplane Base (IATA: ELV, ICAO: PAEL, FAA LID: ELV) is a state-owned public-use seaplane base located in Elfin Cove, on Chichagof Island in the Hoonah-Angoon Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska. Scheduled airline service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation facility (the commercial service category requires at least 2,500 enplanements per year). As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 196 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 265 in 2009, and 305 in 2010.
Facilities and aircraft
Elfin Cove Seaplane Base has one seaplane landing area designated NW/SE which measures 10,000 by 1,500 feet (3,048 x 457 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 500 aircraft operations, an average of 41 per month: 60% air taxi and 40% general aviation.
“Elfin Cove Seaplane Base” enters the record as airport in Alaska, United States of America. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Elfin, Cove and Seaplane can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Elfin Cove Seaplane Base” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Elfin, Cove and Seaplane provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4531357. Authority coordinates are 58.195, -136.347. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 2015, 2008 and 2009.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Elfin Cove Seaplane Base”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Elfin Cove Seaplane Base primary sources, Elfin Cove Seaplane Base archive and Elfin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Elfin Cove Seaplane Base”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Elfin Cove Seaplane Base” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.