The north shore of the bay is in front of the Kwiktalik Mountain in Seaward Peninsula. The Reindeer Hills lie on the Southhead of the Bay. Cape Nome is at the entrance to the bay. Circa 1902, there were several Alaska Native villages on the northern shore of the Norton Bay: Kviguk and Kwik villages. The streams joining the north shore of the bay are Kvingak, Kwik, Kwiniuk, and also Tubutulik River. Captain Mikhail Dmitrievich Tebenkov was the director of the Russian American Company and Governor of Russian America during 1845-50. In 1831, he visited the Norton Sound and discovered the bay that bears his name.
Geology
The inference, based on field studies, is that the Nulato-Norton Bay region evolved during the Cretaceous period. It is seen in the form of old deposits of conglomerates, sandstone and shales in the middle of the basin.
Placer gold
deposits are very few in the Nulato-Norton Bay area in some pockets of Cretaceous and Tertiary deposits) as compared to the finds in the Nome area. Some of the streams such as the Kwintuk, Tubutulik and Kwik which flow into the bay have placer gold and the sediment flow discharged into the bay could also be a source of gold in the bay.
Aqua fauna
Marine and other species reported from the bay have been a source of sustenance for the people of the area. The species reported are tomcod and herring. The hair of the seals caught from the bay area were woven into a fur cloth and the skin of the ogruk, a thick skinned seal, was used for making footwear worn by the Mukluk inhabitants of the area. Walrus has also been found is during the spring season which are caught and used as food.
Landmarks
The National Historic LandmarkIyatayet Site is located on the northwest shore of Cape Denbigh on Norton Bay. Its historicity lies in the fact the Norton Culture dated between 500 BC and 300 AD existed at this site, in stratified deposits above the Denbigh Flint Complex of 6000-4000 BC. Remnants of artifacts found here have further added to the relationship that existed with the cultures of the Paleolithic and Mesolithic ages. In 1840, at the mouth of Ukaliik River, part of the Norton Bay, a fort and a trading town had been established.
The Norton Bay Nature Reserve was established in 1917 covering an area of about for use by the US Bureau of Education and the Natives of the Indigenous Alaskan race. The area extends over a length of to the south east of Nome and covers the coastal area of Norton Bay. This area has the burial grounds of a large number of Eskimo natives who died due to epidemic diseases.
