Sheldon Jackson Museum is an Alaska State Museum located at 104 College Drive – a short walk from downtown. Constructed in 1897, it was the first concrete building in Alaska and it’s on the National Register of Historic Places. Artifacts on exhibit include kayaks from the Inupiaq communities ...
Sitka History Museum in Harrigan Centennial Hall, acclaimed as Sitka’s hidden cultural treasure, is a good “first stop” for travelers. After a brief visit, visitors leave the museum with an understanding of Sitka’s important place in Alaska’s...
The 113-acre Sitka National Historical Park is Alaska’s oldest federally recognized cultural site, a favorite for locals and visitors alike. The park is at 106 Metlakatla Street; the Russian Bishop’s House, also part of the National Park...
Sitka’s Alaska State Park sites offer recreation along with information and experiences related to Sitka’s history, on and off the road system. Baranof Castle Hill State Historic Site is located downtown, on a hill where Russia on Oct. 18, 1867,...
As an island community, Sitka’s marine ecosystems are as vibrant as its terrestrial ones, and visitors interested in learning more about what goes on beneath the waves should visit the Sitka Sound Science Center at 834 Lincoln Street. The...
The New Archangel Dancers highlight Sitka’s cultural past going back to the 1800s, performing traditional folk dances from Russia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. The all-female volunteer troupe recruits and rehearses all year round for its summer...
For those hoping to experience Tlingit Native culture while visiting Sitka, the Naa Kahidi dancers perform several times each week during the summer in the iconic Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi community house next to the Pioneers Home on Katlian...
“Alaska Storytellers: Bringing Sitka’s Stories to Life” is a 30-minute multimedia experience that uses Russian folk, contemporary and swing dancing to tell the story of Sitka from the 18th century through 1945. A storyteller, video...
Alaska Native Brotherhood, founded in 1912 by Alaskan Native men, and the Alaska Native Sisterhood, established in 1915, are nonprofit organizations formed to address discrimination and promote Native solidarity and equal rights. In addition to...
St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 611 Lincoln Street, had its beginning in 1895 when Peter Trimble Rose was named to be the first bishop for Alaska and he chose Sitka as the “See City” of Alaska. The first Episcopal service was held at the...
St. Michael’s Cathedral has been the center of attention in Sitka since it was built in the middle of the downtown street in the 1840s. The Russian Orthodox church, with its onion dome, bells and spire topped by a gold Russian cross outside, its...
Sitka Lutheran Church was founded in May 1840 in New Archangel, Russian Alaska. Russian-American Company Governor Arvid Adolph Etholen, a Swede-Finn Lutheran, had returned to New Archangel that year on board the Nikolai with a party of...
St. Gregory’s Catholic Church is one of the oldest Catholic parishes in Alaska. Shortly after the 1867 transfer of Russian claims to Alaska were transferred to the United States, a petition with 120 names was sent to the Bishop of Vancouver...
Beginning in the 1870s, the Presbyterian Church had a strong influence on Sitka, shaped by missionaries and educators. Missionaries John Brady and Fannie Kellogg opened a Presbyterian school in April 1878. It closed in November but on April 5,...
The Path of Hope, established by the Sitka Cancer Survivor’s Society, winds through the trees in a secluded part of Lower Moller Park, off Moller Drive. Benches and inspirational plaques have been placed at intervals, in an effort to help those...
With gravestones dating back to the Russian-American era in the 1800s and on through today, Sitka’s cemeteries document the community’s history. Sitka National Cemetery, located on a hillside off Sawmill Creek Road, was the first national...
For good bargains and entertainment, stop by the White Elephant thrift shop at 323 Lincoln Street. The White E, whose motto is “Sitkans Serving Sitkans,” sells donated goods of all types to raise money for community organizations, charities and...
The Sitka Pioneer Home, a state assisted-living facility at 120 Katlian Street, is the oldest of the state’s six homes. It began as a log barracks built by the Russians and used as quarters for the U.S. Marines stationed here in 1879. When the...
Marked by its signature 100-foot-high steel pylons, the O’Connell Bridge has connected Sitka to Japonski Island since 1972. The 1,255-foot-long span connecting downtown Sitka and Japonski Island was the only vehicular cable-stayed bridge in the...
The Sitka Local Foods Network is a nonprofit that celebrates and encourages the growing, harvesting and producing of foods in Sitka. It includes the summertime Sitka Farmers Market, which offers everything from local veggies to local crafts to...