[1] Archaeological evidence indicates that Point Barrow was occupied by the ancestors of the Iñupiat for almost 1,000 years prior to the arrival of the first Europeans.

The headland is an important archaeological site, yielding burials and artifacts associated with the Thule culture, including uluit and bola.

The waters off Point Barrow are on the bowhead whale migration route and it is surmised, that the site was chosen to make hunting easier.

On August 15, 1935, an airplane crash killed aviator Wiley Post and his passenger, the entertainer Will Rogers, at the Rogers–Post Site, 33 km (20.5 mi) southwest of Point Barrow.

[4][5] Had the Alaska trade occurred, from 1967 Denmark would have benefited from Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, the richest petroleum discovery in American history.

[10] In 1890, it returned as Point Barrow, which also included the Refuge & Whaling Station and native settlements of Nuwuk, Ongovehenok and winter village on "Kugaru" (Inaru) River.