 Residents began relocating 5 miles east to Evansville, where the airstrip that serves the community today was built in World War II and is now used for commercial air service.The Hickel Highway was used to transport equipment and supplies to the North Slope for oil exploration, and to build the Dalton Highway, which is now used as a truck route to the oilfields.The old village was largely abandoned and the New Bettles was carved out of Evansville and was incorporated in 1985.