It is derived from an Eyak name, diyaʼqudaʼt, and was influenced by the Tlingit word yaakw ("canoe, boat").

[12] The United States Census Bureau has defined the former City of Yakutat as a census-designated place within the borough.

Tlingit people migrated into the region and the Eyak were assimilated into the tribe before the arrival of Europeans in Alaska.

[14] After the Russians cut off access to the fisheries nearby, a Tlingit war party attacked and destroyed the fort in 1805.

By 1886, after the 1867 Alaska Purchase by the United States from the Russian Empire, the area's black sand beaches were being mined for gold.

In 1889 the Swedish Free Mission Church opened a school and sawmill in the area.

About 1903 the Stimson Lumber Company constructed a cannery, another sawmill, a store, and a railroad.

Many people moved to the current site of Yakutat to be closer to work at the Stimson cannery, which operated through 1970.

During World War II, the USAAF stationed a large aviation garrison near Yakutat and built a paved runway.

In 2004 the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe (YTT) received a Language Preservation Grant from the Administration for Native Americans.

With this, they have reinvigorated their efforts to teach the Tlingit language to middle-aged and young people.

While working at a local cannery from 1912 to 1941, Seiki Kayamori extensively photographed Yakutat and its area; Yakutat City Hall holds a large set of prints of his work.

It served several canneries south of Yakutat and primarily hauled fish to the harbor.

It lies in an isolated location in lowlands along the Gulf of Alaska, 212 miles (341 kilometres)) northwest of Juneau.

If Russell Lake rises to 135 feet (41.15 m), the water will spill over a pass and flow into the Situk River.

On average, the year's driest period is late April through July, though no month qualifies as a true "dry season."

Unlike in South Central Alaska, a day with a high temperature under 0 °F (−18 °C) has never been recorded.

In 1992, it broke away from the Skagway-Yakutat-Angoon Census Area to form its own borough of Yakutat.

"[31] The area consisting of about 100 sq mi (260 km2), contained the vast majority of the population of the entire city-borough.