Point Barrow is the northernmost point of Alaska, U.S., situated on the Arctic Ocean. Archaeological evidence dates human habitation (by Inupiaq Eskimos) in the area from about AD 500. The headland was explored in 1826 by Frederick W. Beechey and named for Sir John Barrow, British promoter of Arctic exploration; its Inupiaq name is Ukpeagvik, meaning “Place Where Owls Are Hunted.” Once important in Arctic aviation, it was the departure point of Sir George Hubert Wilkins's flight (1928) over the North Pole and was the site of the air crash (1935) that killed Will Rogers and Wiley Post (for whom the city of Barrow's airport is jointly named). Point Barrow was the site of a U.S. Navy Arctic research station from the 1940s to 1980, when the station was closed. The area has vast oil and gas deposits and is the northernmost tip of the massive National Petroleum Reserve.