 Some say that this was Nizhnekolymsk, but Fisher thinks that the original fort was Srednekolymsk and that the main Russian center was moved to Nizhnekolymsk by 1655 when the Anadyrsk route became important.At some point the name was changed to Yarmanka, from the Russian word for "fair", referring to the annual gatherings of indigenous inhabitants of the area here in spring.The settlement grew over the next century, and was granted town status and its present name in 1775.