Sitka National Historical Park

About this property

Sitka National Historical Park (earlier known as Indian River Park and Totem Park) is a national historical park in Sitka in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was redesignated as a national historical park from its previous status as national monument on October 18, 1972. The park in its various forms has sought to commemorate the Tlingit and Russian experiences in Alaska. The history of Alaska's oldest federally designated cultural and historic park dates back to June 21, 1890, when President Benjamin Harrison set aside the site of the Tlingit fort Shis'kí Noow (Tlingit for "Sapling Fort") for public use. The site, located near the mouth of the Indian River, served in 1804 as the location of an armed conflict between the native Tlingit people and Russian fur hunters (accompanied by their Aleut allies), known today as the Battle of Sitka. From 1903 to 1905, District Governor John G. Brady set about acquiring Native totem poles from all over Alaska for display at the park; the majority of the poles came from Haida villages located on Prince of Wales Island, while others had been on display at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Shortly thereafter, a group of influential Sitkans concerned about vandalism and the poor condition of the park in general pressured the federal government to declare the site a national monument. The Sitka National Monument was proclaimed by President William H. Taft under the Antiquities Act on March 23, 1910 to preserve the fort site and totem pole collection and protect them from further harm. With the creation of the National Park Service in 1916, the monument fell under the new agency's care, though no significant appropriation was made until 1921. Many of the poles exhibited today along the park's two miles (3.2 kilometers) of wooded pathways are replicas of the deteriorating originals, now held in protective storage. Interspersed among the giant Sitka spruce trees are a variety of ferns, shrubs and flowers. Salmon can be seen swimming up Indian River during spawning season. The 112-acre (45-hectare) park was placed under the control of the U.S. Army in 1942 and briefly occupied for defensive purposes, during which a series of military construction projects resulted in the removal of massive amounts of gravel from the park's river, shoreline and estuary. Environmental impacts from the gravel removal were to be a major resource issue for decades after. Responsibility for the park was formally returned to the Department of the Interior in 1947. In 1965, a new visitor center (the park's first true visitor facility which provides space for exhibits and demonstrations of Alaska Native arts and crafts) was opened. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

More in Sitka County

Historic places, battles, and census history across Sitka County.

More historic places in Alaska

Browse all historic places in Alaska.

Conflict records

Explore 19,000+ military engagements across American history.

Alaska history

Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.