Teller is located on the Seward Peninsula, on a spit between Port Clarence and Grantley Harbor. The community was named in 1892 for U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Interior Henry Moore Teller.
After the discovery of gold 15 miles south, Teller became a major regional trading center, and had a population of 5,000.
Teller is a traditional Kawerak Eskimo village. Reindeer, seals, beluga whales, fish, and other local resources are utilized.