Everything about Baranof Island totally explained
Baranof Island, also sometimes called
Baranov Island or
Sitka Island, is an
island in the northern
Alexander Archipelago in the
Alaska Panhandle, in
Alaska. It was called
Sheet’-ká X'áat'l (often expressed simply as "
Shee") by the native
Tlingit Clan. It is one of the
ABC islands of Alaska.
The Island has a land area of 1,584.36 square
miles (4,103.47 square
kilometers), which is approximately the same as the State of
Delaware, and measures 100 miles (160 kilometers) by 30 miles (48 kilometers) at its longest and widest points respectively. Baranof Island is the most mountainous island in the Alexander Archipelago, the eighth largest island in Alaska, the
tenth largest island in the United States, and the
137th largest island in the world. Its center is near . The population of the island was 8,532 at the
2000 census.
Almost the entire area of the Island is part of the City and Borough of
Sitka (Sitka also extends northward onto
Chichagof Island); the only part of Baranof that isn't in Sitka is a tiny sliver of land (9.75 km²) at the extreme southeast corner, which is in the
Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area, and includes the town of
Port Alexander. This section had a 2000 census population of 81 persons. The towns of
Baranof Warm Springs,
Port Armstrong, and
Port Walter are also located on the eastern side of the island.
Goddard, a now-abandoned settlement about 16 miles south of Sitka, features a few private homes and hot springs with two public bathhouses. There are also three year-round
salmon hatcheries, one located just north of Port Alexander at Port Armstrong, another located just north of Baranof Warm Springs at
Hidden Falls, the other just south of Sitka near
Medvejie Lake. The latter is accessible by private road from Sitka. All of these communities, except for Port Alexander, are under the jurisdiction of the City and Borough of Sitka, of which, Sitka serves as the borough seat.
Fishing, seafood processing, and tourism are important industries on the island, which is also famous for
brown bears and
Sitka deer.
The first European settlement on island was established in
1799 by
Alexandr Baranov, Chief Manager and first Governor of the
Russian-American Company, for whom the Island and Archipelago are named. Baranof Island was the center of Russian activity in North America during the period from 1804–1867 and was the headquarters of the Russian fur-trading interest.
Around
1900, Baranof Island was subject to many small-scale
mining ventures, especially centered around Sitka and on the north side of the Island around Rodman Bay. Canneries, whaling stations, and fox farms sprung up on all sides of the Island, though most had been abandoned by the outbreak of
World War II. The remains of these outposts are still evident, though most exist in a dilapidated condition.
The 1939
Slattery Report on Alaskan development identified the island as one of the areas where new settlements would be established through
immigration. This plan was never implemented.
Further Information
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