The Redoubt St. Archangel Michael Site, also known as the Old Sitka Site and now in Old Sitka State Historical Park, is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

near

Sitka, Alaska Sitka (; ) is a municipal home rule, unified Consolidated city-county, city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian America, Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Ba ...

. Now of archaeological interest, the site, about north of Sitka at the end of Halibut Point Road, was the site of the early Russian-American Company settlement known as Redoubt St. Archangel Michael (, r "Fort Arkhangela Mikhaila"). It was the first non-Native settlement on Baranof Island. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1962, and was made a state park in 1966.

History

In 1779, Alexander Baranov, a leader of the Russian-American Company, arrived near the site of modern Sitka, and negotiated with the local

Tlingit people The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...

for a site on which the company could establish an outpost. Although he would have preferred what is now called Castle Hill in Sitka, he was granted this site on Starrigavan Bay. It was not until 1799 that the company established a presence, building a number of log buildings, surrounded by a

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

. In 1802 the Tlingit attacked and destroyed the premises. The Russians returned to the area in force in 1804, and established a permanent presence at Castle Hill after the Battle of Sitka.William S. Hanable (April 4, 1975) , National Park Service and Replacements were built in 1808, 1823, 1836 and 1894. In 1900 an agricultural station was built and demolished after 1955. The site was excavated in 1934-35, at which time archaeologists recovered numerous artifacts and identified the locations of the Russian buildings of the former

redoubt A redoubt (historically redout) is a Fortification, fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on Earthworks (engineering), earthworks, although some are constructed of ston ...

. In the years that followed the site was partially compromised by erosion and construction activity. 1 The state built a wayside stop at the site in 1966, and now operates it as a state park. It was designated a

(as "Redoubt St. Archangel Michael Site") in 1962, and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1966 (as "Old Sitka Site").

References

{{authority control State parks of Alaska National Historic Landmarks in Alaska Protected areas of Sitka, Alaska Russian-American culture in Alaska Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska Populated places established in 1799 National Register of Historic Places in Sitka, Alaska 1799 establishments in North America Protected areas established in 1966 1966 establishments in Alaska

History

See also

References