Sitka Museums & Cultural Centers

Dr. Shel­don Jack­son, muse­um founder, had the dis­tinc­tion of serv­ing in three pio­neer fields dur­ing the late 1800s, found­ing Protes­tant mis­sions and schools, estab­lish­ing the pub­lic school sys­tem, and intro­duc­ing domes­tic rein­deer. In his trav­els he reached many sec­tions of Alas­ka, as well as the coast of Siberia, gath­er­ing the major­i­ty of the arti­facts now seen in the muse­um. Locat­ed on the cam­pus of Shel­don Jack­son Col­lege, the muse­um was…  ...more

This is a fun lit­tle trea­sure hunt for kids. The mon­ey tree isn’t marked, but it’s near the start of the Totem Trail. Look for a tree stump, about a foot and half tall, that’s filled with coins. Where the branch­es have bro­ken off, there are coins in the lit­tle holes. Peo­ple have been putting coins in this tree for over 50 years; if you can find the tree, join the tradition!

Explore a large, scale mod­el of Sit­ka from 1867, the year the Rus­sians trans­ferred the Ter­ri­to­ry to the Unit­ed States. View exhibits on tra­di­tion­al Tlin­git lifestyles and see a col­lec­tion of tight­ly woven cedar and spruce root bas­kets. Or learn about the town black­outs and a large-scale mil­i­tary buildup in Sit­ka dur­ing World War II. The muse­um is the only place in Sit­ka that includes all three ele­ments of the town’s his­to­ry – Tlin­git, Russian…  ...more

Walk­ing the streets of Sit­ka, you may find it hard to believe that this qui­et coastal com­mu­ni­ty was once the hub of the West Coast: a cen­ter for trade, diplo­ma­cy, and the arts. When San Fran­cis­co had less than 10 res­i­dents, Sit­ka was home to 800 Rus­sians, Euro­peans, Tlin­gits, and Aleuts. The old­est town on the West Coast, it was the cap­i­tal of Russ­ian Amer­i­ca — called New Archangel — and was boom­ing from the ear­ly 1800s through the Unit­ed States’…  ...more