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One look at lovely Sitka and you'll know why Alexander Baranof, governor of the Russian American Company, decided to build his "castle" here. With views of island-studded waters and stately spruce forests reaching to the water's edge, Sitka is considered Alaska's most beautiful seaside town. Sitka's past is a unique blend of Tlingit culture and Russian history.
Our historic and scenic community is situated on Baranof Island, nestled between forested mountains and the great Pacific Ocean, on the outer waters of Alaska's Inside Passage. Sitka offers a combination of Native culture, Russian history, and Alaskan wilderness which will provide a diverse and unequaled experience. Wildlife adds to Sitka's natural beauty. Our mild climate, rich habitat and relatively low human population make Sitka one of the best places to view wildlife. Nearby waters are a popular feeding ground for humpback whales in the late fall and early spring. Summertime provides a wonderful opportunity to view tufted puffins and other sea birds at St. Lazaria National Wildlife Refuge. While out on the ocean, you may also spot sea otters, sea lions, whales and other marine wildlife.
Sitka lies at the heart of the largest temperate rain forest in the world, the Tongass National Forest. Enjoy the fresh outdoors on well-marked mountain trails. Take to the water for a picturesque boat trip or kayaking adventure among nearby islands or charter a boat to nearby fishing grounds to fish for world-class salmon and halibut.
Culture and History
The history of the United States is but a heartbeat in the history of Sitka. The Kiksadi Clan of the Tlingit Indians had lived in and around Sitka centuries before the Russians or Americans ever set foot on the island's rocky shores. Choosing the seaward side of the island they named Shee, the Tlingits called their settlement Shee Atika, meaning "people on the outside of Shee". The name Sitka is merely a contraction.
The Tlingits thrived undisturbed on their island paradise until 1799, when the Russians arrived. It wasn't long before Alexander Baranof, Manager of the Russian-American Company, established a fort a few miles North of the present day Sitka. The Tlingits grew immediately hostile, understanding that submission to the Russians meant allegiance to the Tzar and slave labor to the fur trade company. Their suspicions turned to violence, when the Tlingits finally attacked the Russian outpost in 1802, killing nearly all of the Russians and their Aleut slaves.
Two years later Baranof retaliated. For six days, the island Natives fought gallantly, but were out-gunned and exited silently into the night. The Russians renamed the settlement New Archangel. Russian Orthodox Church clergy soon took up residency and fortress-like structures systematically replaced clan houses atop a shoreside hill, a site later known as Castle Hill.
The fur-trade flourished and the Russian-American Company became the most profitable fur trader in the world. By mid-century, however, overhunting had diminished the number of sea otters, and thus the Russians' interest in the new world. In 1867, the Russians sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million with a transfer ceremony that took place in Sitka on October 18 of that year.
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