Hughes sits atop a 500-foot bluff on the east bank of the
Koyukuk River. Hughes was used as a trade center between Athabascans and Eskimos, but was formally founded and named in 1910 after New York Governor Charles Hughes. The city served as a riverboat landing and supply port for the Indian River gold fields until 1915.
In 1994, floodwaters destroyed nearly all of the community's buildings, homes, and food supplies for the winter. Residents are rebuilding the community.
Hughes is a Koyukon Athabascan village where traditional ways of life persist. River transportation is important to the city.