In 1910, the Sitka Industrial Training School closed for a year as contractors, volunteers and students replaced the original buildings with this state-of-the-art campus.
The New York City architectural firm of Ludlow and Peabody included . . . — — Map (db m308752) HM
This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America. The hall is the place of importance in the native community. The original chapter of Alaska Native Brotherhood built this hall in 1914 to serve . . . — — Map (db m133827) HM
On October 18, 1867, the Russian eagle ceded its perch on this hill to the American eagle.
What a Deal!
By the 1860s, the Russian-American Company (RAC), which managed Russia's colonies in Alaska, was losing money, so Russia decided to . . . — — Map (db m181361) HM
has been designated a
Registered National
Historic Landmark
under the provisions of the
Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935
This site possesses exceptional value
in commemorating and illustrating
the history of the United . . . — — Map (db m181330) HM
As Alaska evolved from department to district to territory, and finally, to state, this hill went through a series of changes, eventually becoming Baranof Castle State Historic Site.
Who's the Boss?
A short lull followed the excitement of . . . — — Map (db m181369) HM
Hans Andersen started his first business in Hadley, Alaska in 1903. He built the Hotel Hadley in the mining town of Hadley on Prince of Wales Island. Several years later, copper prices plummeted and the town was soon abandoned. Hans moved to . . . — — Map (db m308410) HM
In 1849 the Church of the Resurrection was built into a portion of the fortified wall at this site. This unique church, situated on the divide between cultures, had two doors, one for Tlingit worshippers from their village and one for the priest . . . — — Map (db m308762) HM
Kaaxgal.aat
Alaskan Civil Rights Leader (Tlingit, Lukaax.ádi)
(July 4, 1911 - December 1, 1958)
"Asking you to give me equal rights implies that they are yours to give. Instead, I must demand that you stop . . . — — Map (db m308317) HM
Captain George Foster Emmons (1811-1884), commander of the USS Ossipee, sailed into the Sitka harbor with United States
and Russian Commissioners for the ceremony transferring the Alaskan territory to the United States on 18 October 1867.
Nearly . . . — — Map (db m118712) HM
Russians and Native Alaskans took the first tentative steps toward mutual understanding in the Russian Bishop's House. The bishop lived here alongside Tlingit students and Native and Kryol (mixed ancestry) men studying to become Orthodox priests. . . . — — Map (db m181607) HM
Longline fishermen have sustainably harvested halibut, rockfish and sablefish off Alaska's coast for more than 100 years. Every year, scientists and managers determine an acceptable level of harvest for each species, and limit the catch to ensure . . . — — Map (db m308447) HM
Many of Alaska's fishing boats are family run operations, with traditions passed down from one generation to the next. The livelihoods of more than one third of Alaska's towns are dependent on fisheries.
Seafood is Alaska's top export, . . . — — Map (db m308449) HM
This two-story, wood clapboard and gambrel roofed cottage-style house was constructed during the summer of 1916 by the United States Department of Commerce, Coast and Geodetic Survey. Prior to the purchase of Alaska by the United States from the . . . — — Map (db m181580) HM
Blacksmiths and artisans who once lived and toiled on this hill were highly skilled workers of diverse ethnicities. Artifacts found here tell their forgotten story.
Under Your Feet
In 1997, archaeologists discovered Russian workshops . . . — — Map (db m181266) HM
Built about 1895, the Hanlon-Qsbakken house is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was home to three generations of the Hanion-Osbakken family, who trace their roots in Sitka to early Russian American days. The family held the property . . . — — Map (db m181588) HM
When the Kiksadi clan of the Tlingit Indians first migrated into this area from the south, they chose this promontory for the erection of their main houses. There were four of these community houses here when Baranof, governor of the . . . — — Map (db m181334) HM
Baranof and his party landed and parleyed with the Kiksadi who refused to permit another settlement. When the Russians attacked this hill they found the Kiksadi had moved to their fort ¼ mile east on Indian River.
After the battle and siege at . . . — — Map (db m181343) HM
The castle then served as the seat of the United States government until military forces were withdrawn in 1877. Following 1877 there was no government in Alaska until the Organic Act of 1884 authorized the appointment of an Internal Revenue . . . — — Map (db m181358) HM
Dedicated to volunteers Foster and Louise Mills, and their son, Russell and wife, Monica Mills in recognition for their many years of service tending to this Lutheran cemetery, established in 1840.
Overgrown and unattended, Foster discovered . . . — — Map (db m308264) HM
The first American flag was raised by a colorguard from Company F, 9th Infantry, to signify the transfer of Alaska from czarist Russia.
The first 49 star American flag was raised on July 4, 1959, by a colorguard from the First Battle Group 9th . . . — — Map (db m133863) HM
Imagine your spouse is appointed as the top official in a distant land. You must now travel thousands of miles to Sitka and make this hill your family's new home.
Elisabeth von Wrangell
Ferdinand von Wrangell, the first governor of Russian . . . — — Map (db m181341) HM
They called this place Noow Tlein, Novoarkhangel'sk, and Castle Hill. They were the men who worked, fought, and lived here.
Andrew P. Johnson
1898-1986 — Prominent member of the Kiks.ádi clan and a child of the Kaagwaantaan . . . — — Map (db m181339) HM
One of a number of early naval vessels that saw distinguished service in Alaska's waters, the sloop-of-war U.S.S. Jamestown on June 14, 1879 arrived off shore here in relief of the U.S.S. Alaska. She had been ordered to sail from San Francisco to . . . — — Map (db m308280) HM
This is the site of the old Russian warehouse and wharf used when Sitka was a center of world trade.
During the Russian - American period, Sitka was the largest town on the west coast of North America.
Ships exchanged their goods here . . . — — Map (db m308282) HM
Tlingit people established ties to this place long ago and those ties, though altered, remain.
The Land and the Tlingit
The ocean and the forest met the Tlingit peoples' needs as they moved from summer fish camps to autumn hunting grounds . . . — — Map (db m181331) HM
Over 80,000 fur seal skins alone were stored here in 1867, along with sea otter pelts and other valuable furs.
This mural depicts the S. S. Queen and the S. S. City of Topeka as they docked here in 1887 during Alaska's gold rush.
Part . . . — — Map (db m308283) HM
It would be more practical to … erect new [rental] houses … places built in the American way, that is frame houses … — Builder Peter Callsen in a letter dated 1887 to Father Vladimir Donskoi, advising the construction of new . . . — — Map (db m181613) HM
Clarence and Hopewell Rands along with their 3 daughters: Althea, Margaret and Barbara arrived in Sitka via Corvallis, Oregon in 1938 with the entrepreneur pioneer can-do spirit.
Clarence was employed with Columbia Lumber Company that would . . . — — Map (db m308423) HM
In 1802 the Russian-American Company sailed into the harbor here to establish its new base of operations - Novo-Arkhangelsk - on the site of an already well-established Tlingit village. The Tlingit resented the invasion and the Russians . . . — — Map (db m308838) HM
Step across the street to Novo Arkhangelsk, Imperial Russian colonial capital of Alaska and a busy trade center known as the "Paris of the Pacific.” The Bishop's House is the most visible actual remnant of New Archangel. It was built in 1841-42 by . . . — — Map (db m181617) HM
Reconstructed here on the site of an original by the National Park Service in 1962 it is a replica of one of the three Russian fortresses that guarded the stockade wall. — — Map (db m308785) HM
The Russian-American company used a log building formerly on this site to transact business of the fur trade. Maps made in the cartography classrooms are now in Moscow archives. Americans used the building for office's, post office, and library . . . — — Map (db m308301) HM
has been designated a
Registered National
Historic Landmark
under the provisions of the
Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935
This site possesses exceptional value
in commemorating and illustrating
the history of the United . . . — — Map (db m181596) HM
Saint Michael's Cathedral, a National Historic Landmark, is the central point of interest in historic downtown Sitka and is recognizable statewide as the most prominent symbol of the Russian colonial presence in Alaska. It was the main edifice of a . . . — — Map (db m181574) HM
Welcome to
St. Peter's by the Sea
Episcopal Church
Pro-Cathedral of Alaska's First Bishop
Rt. Rev. Peter Trimble Rowe
Est. Thanksgiving 1896 — — Map (db m308739) HM
Yakov (Jacob) Netsvetov became the first Russian Orthodox priest of Alaskan Native heritage in 1828.
He served churches in the Aleutians for 15 years. Later, after his wife's death, he was assigned as a missionary in the Lower Yukon and . . . — — Map (db m308754) HM
The replica blockhouse before you, a symbol of Russia's role in Alaska's history, represents the walled fortifications that defined the limits of its control.
These blockhouses, or watchtowers, each housing cannons, protected the Russian . . . — — Map (db m133826) HM
Sheldon Jackson School was a Presbyterian mission; many of the staff came as missionaries.
Gladys Whitmore came as a volunteer in 1939, and stayed on to teach at the college. The building now called Whitmore Hall was originally Home . . . — — Map (db m307825) HM
This hill is among the most important landmarks in Alaska. Three eras of Alaska's history are represented by the people Tlingits, Russians, then Americans-who claimed and occupied the hill. This three-part history accounts for the many sites with . . . — — Map (db m308430) HM
(Side 1):
Russian Bishop's House
Built in 1842 by the Russian American Company as a residence for the bishop of the Orthodox Church, the Russian Bishop's House is one of the few surviving examples of Russian colonial architecture . . . — — Map (db m308639) HM
On this site was built the first Protestant church in Alaska. It was founded in 1840 when Governor Etholén brought Rev. Uno Cygnaeus from Finland to establish a Lutheran congregation. The Russian-U.S. transfer agreement of 1867 specifically deeded . . . — — Map (db m181567) HM
Sitka Totem Square is a park and recreation area acquired from the Federal government in 1972 for use by the general public. The park is owned by the State of Alaska and is maintained by the Department of Health and Social Services, Division of . . . — — Map (db m308365) HM
The 'Cottage-by-the Sea' was constructed in 1897 by Norwegian prospector Captain Hans Christian Pande. While Alaska was still a Territory, the W.P. Mills Company donated this house to the Sitka Woman's Club for a clubhouse, which led to the . . . — — Map (db m241980) HM
A contingent of the United States Marines was stationed in Sitka 1879 until 1912.
Alaska became a territory in August 1912 and when the first legislature met that following March a bill was introduced by Sitka's Representative, Arthur G. . . . — — Map (db m308624) HM
The first Episcopal Church service in Sitka was held at the Presbyterian Chapel on Thanksgiving Day in 1896. The ground was broken for St. Peter's in 1899 and the first service in the new church was held on Thanksgiving Day of that year.
In . . . — — Map (db m290375) HM
Norman E. Staton, Sr. and Ethel L. (Milonich) Staton purchased Building 29 in 1983, the same year it was registered by the National Park Service. With his love of architecture and his interest in preservation of historical sites, and as a . . . — — Map (db m308429) HM
Norman E. Staton Sr. and Ethel L. (Milonich) Staton, lifelong Alaskans moved from Ketchikan to Sitka in 1955 opening their first restaurant, the Pioneer Grill on Katlian Street and their second, the Sitka Café on Lincoln Street before opening . . . — — Map (db m181259) HM
This hill's location and the fact that it was once practically an island during high tides made it an ideal and highly defensible site valued by three different nations. Here, the course of Alaska's history changed.
Noow Tlein
The Tlingit . . . — — Map (db m181263) HM
This large frame house was constructed as a Russian residence about 1835. Although there has been some modification the building is thought to be the finest remaining example of Russian secular architecture in Alaska. — — Map (db m133829) HM
The Sitka Chamber of Commerce commissioned the carving of this 50-foot ceremonial canoe in 1967 in commemoration of the centennial of the 1867 Alaska purchase. "Te kot keh yago"- (everybody's canoe) Officially dedicated by Alaska Native . . . — — Map (db m307834) HM
One-half mile from here, past Crescent Harbor marina, is the Fort Site Unit of Sitka National Historical Park, where you can learn about Tlingit Indians, totem poles, and the Battle of Sitka.
Visit the National Park's Tlingit-Ahna-Hit . . . — — Map (db m308359) HM
This place was central to Russia's hopes of establishing a lucrative colony in America.
Finding a Foothold
Starting in the 1740s, Russians were attracted to Alaska's coast by abundant, valuable sea otters. Russia claimed Alaska and . . . — — Map (db m181348) HM
Sitka struggled without a bank for 72 years after Alaska came under the American flag. For many years William P. Mills, who with his sister Loretta May Mills, served as the town banker. Lorretta owned the largest store in town, on Lincoln Street . . . — — Map (db m308267) HM
