Old town of Point Hope. Archaeological evidence points to Point Hope being one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the Americas, with artifacts dating 4000-6000 years. The old town is made of subterranean sod houses comprised of wood and whale bones. The old town was actively in use until the 1970s, when most of the town was moved a little less than a mile eastward toward higher ground and as the old town site continued to be eroded by the ocean.