One hundred and fifty-nine years ago, Alaska was formally transferred from Russia to the United States after it was purchased from Russia for the sum of $7.2 million on March 30th, 1867. It took several months for commissioners to arrive in the territory of Alaska to formally transfer ownership. And so, on October 18th, 1867, […]
On October 18th, 1867, the Russian flag was lowered in Russian America for the last time when it was lowered from its pole on Castle Hill in Sitka. It took place during the ceremony when Alaska was officially turned over to the United States. When the flag was lowered, it got hung up and had […]
After three days of trenching and laying cable through the Valdez tidal flats, in the early morning hours of September 29th 1904, the U.S. Army Transport Burnside began laying 650 miles of cable from Valdez to the southeast community of Sitka. The steamer was successful in its task of laying the cable, which would cut […]
On September 14th, 1916, Bishop Philip Stavitsky of the Russian Orthodox Church arrived in Juneau. It was Bishop Stavitsky’s first trip to the north as he took over the church in the territory. The Bishop would stop next in Sitka to celebrate the centennial of Orthodoxy in Alaska. His leadership of the church in Alaska […]