History thumb|right|Bethel in the 1940s, winter thumb|right|Bethel in 1941, summer Southwestern Alaska has been the homelands of Yup'ik peoples and their ancestors for thousands of years. The residents of what became Bethel were called the Mamterillermiut, meaning "Smokehouse People", after their nearby fish smokehouse. In the late 19th century, the Alaska Commercial Company established a trading post in the town, called Mumtrekhlogamute, which had a population of 41 people by the 1880 census.
History thum.b|right|Bethel in the 1940s, winter thumb|right|Bethel in 1941, summer Southwestern Alaska has been the homelands of Yup'ik peoples and their ancestors for thousands of years The residents of what became Bethel were called the Mamterillermiut, meaning "Smokehouse People", after their nearby fish smokehouse. In the late 19th century, the Alaska Commercial Company established a trading post in the town, called Mumtrekhlogamute, which had a population of 41 people by the 1880 census.