List of National Historic Landmarks in Alaska

The National Historic Landmarks in Alaska represent Alaska's history from its Russian heritage to its statehood. There are 48 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in the state.[1] The United States National Historic Landmark program is operated under the auspices of the National Park Service, and recognizes structures, districts, objects, and similar resources according to a list of criteria of national significance.[2] Major themes include Alaska's ancient cultures, Russian heritage, and role in World War II, but other stories are represented as well. In addition, two sites in Alaska were designated National Historic Landmarks, and subsequently de-designated. These sites appear in italics in another table further below.

The National Historic Landmark Program is administered by the National Park Service, a branch of the Department of the Interior. The National Park Service determines which properties meet NHL criteria and makes nomination recommendations after an owner notification process.[2] The Secretary of the Interior reviews nominations and, based on a set of predetermined criteria, makes a decision on NHL designation or a determination of eligibility for designation.[3] Both public and privately owned properties can be designated as NHLs. This designation provides indirect, partial protection of the historic integrity of the properties via tax incentives, grants, monitoring of threats, and other means.[2] Owners may object to the nomination of the property as a NHL. When this is the case the Secretary of the Interior can only designate a site as eligible for designation.[3]

Contents

NHLs in Alaska

The table below lists all 48 of the National Historic Landmark sites, along with added detail and description.

Landmark name[4] Image Date desig.[4] Locality
[4][5]		 Borough or
Census Area[4]		 Description[5]
1 Adak Army Base and Adak Naval Operating Base 01987-02-27 February 27, 1987 Adak Station
 Aleutians West Established in 1942 as part of World War II, this military base was the launching pad for the American attack on the Japanese-held Aleutian Islands of Kiska and Attu.
2 Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Sitka
 Sitka This 1914 meeting hall and headquarters building served the original chapter of Alaska Native Brotherhood, founded by Tlingits in the early 1900s to fight discrimination and represent interests of natives.
3 Amalik Bay Archeological District 02005-04-04 April 4, 2005 King Salmon
 Lake and Peninsula An archeological site located in Lake and Peninsula Borough
4 American Flag Raising Site 01962-06-13 June 13, 1962 Sitka
 Sitka In 1867, site of Russian flag lowering and American flag raising marking the transfer of Alaska to the U.S.; in 1959, after Alaska admitted as 49th state, site of first official raising of 49-star U.S. flag; also called Castle Hill.
5 Anangula Site 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Nikolski Aleutians West Site of earliest signs of human occupation in the Aleutian Islands.
6 Attu Battlefield and U.S. Army and Navy Airfields on Attu 01985-02-04 February 4, 1985 Attu Island
 Aleutians West Site of bloody battle in which only 29 of 2,500 Japanese survived, only battle on U.S. soil during World War II.
7 Bering Expedition Landing Site 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Kayak Island
 Valdez-Cordova Site of first recorded contacts between natives and Europeans
8 Birnirk Site 01962-12-29 December 29, 1962 Barrow North Slope Sixteen prehistoric mounds of the Birnirk and Thule cultures.
9 Brooks River Archeological District 01993-04-19 April 19, 1993 Katmai National Park and Preserve
 Bristol Bay An archaeological site located along an ancient beach and modern river. There are twenty separate well preserved sites which have provided a large number of Arctic Small Tool Tradition artifacts.
10 Cape Krusenstern Archeological District 01973-11-07 November 7, 1973 Kotzebue
 Northwest Arctic The archeological district comprises 114 ancient beach ridges which formed nearly 60 years apart. They provide a rare sequential look at over 5000 years of inhabitation.
11 Cape Nome Mining District Discovery Sites 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Nome Nome Significant for role in the history of gold mining in Alaska
12 Chaluka Site 01962-12-29 December 29, 1962 Nikolski Aleutians West Includes a large mound; yields information about origins of Aleuts
13 Chilkoot Trail and Dyea Site 01978-06-16 June 16, 1978 Skagway
 Skagway Major access route from the coast to Yukon goldfields in the late 1890s.
14 Church of the Holy Ascension 01970-04-15 April 15, 1970 Unalaska
 Aleutians West Built in 1826 by the Russian American Fur Company to help acclimate indigenous population in Russian Alaska.
15 Dry Creek Archeological Site 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Healy, Alaska Denali This archeological site has provided evidence which supports the Bering land bridge theory
16 Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and Fort Mears, U.S. Army 01985-02-04 February 4, 1985 Unalaska
 Aleutians West Only US fortifications in the Aleutian Islands prior to WWII, attacked by the Japanese Navy during the Battle of Dutch Harbor in June 1943.
17 Eagle Historic District 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Eagle
 Southeast Fairbanks Historic district with over 100 well preserved buildings from the Gold Rush years on the Yukon river. Roald Amundsen announced his successful traverse of the Northwest Passage from here in 1905
18 Fort Durham Site 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Taku Harbor Juneau One of three Hudson's Bay Company posts set up in Alaska
19 Cape Field at Fort Glenn image pending 01987-05-28 May 28, 1987 Fort Glenn Aleutians West Significant for its role in World War II fighting
20 Fort William H. Seward image pending 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Haines
 Haines Last of a series of 11 military posts established in Alaska during the gold rush era
21 Gallagher Flint Station Archeological Site 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Sagwon North Slope Discovered in 1970 during the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, it is the earliest dated archaeological site in northern Alaska.
22 Holy Assumption Orthodox Church 01970-04-15 April 15, 1970 Kenai
 Kenai Peninsula Russian Orthodox church in Kenai, Alaska.
23 Ipiutak Site 01961-01-20 January 20, 1961 Point Hope Peninsula
 North Slope The type site for the Ipiutak culture
24 Iyatayet Site 01961-01-20 January 20, 1961 Cape Denbigh Peninsula Nome Shows evidence of several separate cultures, dating back as far as 6000 B.C.
25 Sheldon Jackson School 02001-08-07 August 7, 2001 Sitka Sitka Oldest institution of higher learning in Alaska
26 Kake Cannery 01997-12-09 December 9, 1997 Kake Petersburg Built 1912-1940; significant for role in history of salmon canning in Alaska
27 Kennecott Mines 01986-06-23 June 23, 1986 Kennecott
 Valdez-Cordova Site of discovery of copper in 1900 and subsequent mining activities
28 Kijik Archeological District 01994-10-12 October 12, 1994 Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
 Bristol Bay Related to the history of the Dena'ina Athabaskan Indians
29 Japanese Occupation Site, Kiska Island 01985-02-04 February 4, 1985 Kiska Island
 Aleutians West Site of the Japanese occupation of Kiska which along with nearby Attu were the only US land occupied by the Japanese during World War II
30 Kodiak Naval Operating Base and Forts Greely and Abercrombie 01985-02-04 February 4, 1985 Kodiak Kodiak Island World War II-related facilities
31 Ladd Field 01985-02-04 February 4, 1985 Fairbanks
 Fairbanks North Star Primary role during WWII was major stopping point for the Lend-Lease program.
32 Leffingwell Camp Site 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Flaxman Island
 North Slope Campsite of geologist and polar explorer Ernest de Koven Leffingwell on Arctic coast of Alaska, not far from Prudhoe Bay.
33 Nenana (river steamboat) 01989-05-05 May 5, 1989 Fairbanks
 Fairbanks North Star River steamboat; only surviving wooden one of this type.
34 New Russia Site image pending 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Yakutat Yakutat Site of Russian trading post attacked and destroyed by Tlingit natives.
35 Onion Portage Archeological District 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Kiana
 Northwest Arctic Perhaps most important archaeological site in Alaska; caribou river crossing; human presence for millennia.
36 Palugvik Site 01962-12-29 December 29, 1962 Hawkins Island Valdez-Cordova Includes a large midden yielding information about Eskimo culture in the area.
37 Russian-American Building #29 01987-05-28 May 28, 1987 Sitka
 Sitka Siding covered log building; dates back to the years after the 1867 purchase of Alaska.
38 Russian-American Magazin 01962-06-13 June 13, 1962 Kodiak Kodiak Island Storehouse building associated with the Russian and then the American trading companies active in Alaska.
39 Russian Bishop's House 01962-06-13 June 13, 1962 Sitka
 Sitka One of four surviving examples of Russian Colonial Style architecture in the Western Hemisphere.
40 St. Michael's Cathedral 01962-06-13 June 13, 1962 Sitka
 Sitka Primary evidence of Russian influence in North America.
41 Seal Island Historic District 01962-06-13 June 13, 1962 Pribilof Islands
 Aleutians West Historic buildings related to Northern Fur Seal hunting in the Pribilof Islands and its restriction in 1911 and 1966.
42 Sitka Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Coastal Defenses 01986-08-11 August 11, 1986 Sitka Sitka Commissioned as Sitka Naval Air Station in October 1939, it was redesignated the Naval Operating Base, July 1942. Protected the North Pacific during World War II.[6]
43 Sitka Spruce Plantation image pending 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Unalaska
 Aleutians West First recorded afforestation project in North America; Russian settlers began in 1805; attempt to make Unalaska self-sufficient in timber.
44 Skagway Historic District and White Pass 01962-06-13 June 13, 1962 Skagway and White Pass
 Skagway Historic frontier Gold Rush town and trail leading to White Pass on the border of Canada. Over 100 buildings from the era survive, though they are threatened by continued development. Mentioned in The Call of the Wild by Jack London.
45 George C. Thomas Memorial Library image pending 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Fairbanks
 Fairbanks North Star The public library for Fairbanks from its construction in 1909 until the opening of the Noel Wien Public Library in 1977. Site of 1915 meeting between U.S. officials and native Alaskans to settle land claims.
46 Three Saints Bay Site 01978-06-02 June 2, 1978 Old Harbor
 Kodiak Island Site of the first Russian settlement in Alaska in 1784.
47 Wales Site 01962-12-29 December 29, 1962 Wales
 Nome Site of first discovery of how the Thule culture followed the Birnirk culture in precontact whaling populations of the Alaskan shoreline.
48 Yukon Island Main Site 01962-12-29 December 29, 1962 Yukon Island Kenai Peninsula Related to the Kachemak Bay Culture.
Table notes: see [7] below.

Historic areas of the NPS in Alaska

National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, some National Monuments, and certain other areas listed in the National Park system are historic landmarks of national importance that are highly protected already, often before the inauguration of the NHL program in 1960, and are then often not also named NHLs per se. There are three of these in Alaska. The National Park Service lists these three together with the NHLs in the state,[8]

Cape Krusenstern National Monument is also an NHL and is listed above. The other two are:

Landmark name
 Image Date established[9] Location County Description
1 Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Skagway Skagway Park of Klondike Gold Rush, an NHL shared with Seattle, Washington.
2 Sitka National Historical Park Sitka Sitka

Former NHLs in Alaska

Landmark name[4] Image Year listed[4] Locality[4][5] Borough / Census Area[4] Description[5]
a Gambell Sites[10] 1962,
withdrawn 1989[10]		 Gambell [10]
 Nome [10] These five archeological sites established a chronology of human habitation on St. Lawrence Island, with evidence of four cultural phases of the Thule tradition, beginning about 2000 years before the present. Over the 20th century, the archeological value of the sites was largely destroyed due to ivory mining, and landmark designation was withdrawn.[10]
c Sourdough Lodge[10] 1978,
withdrawn 1994[10]		 Gakona [10]
 Valdez-Cordova [10] Built of logs in 1903-05, this was one of a number of roadhouses built along the Valdez Trail. It was destroyed by fire in 1992, leading to withdrawal of its landmark status. By the time of its destruction, it was one of the oldest continuously-operating roadhouses in Alaska.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ NPS Alaska NHL List
  2. ^ a b c "National Historic Landmarks Program: Questions & Answers". National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/nhl/QA.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-21. 
  3. ^ a b "Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 65". US Government Printing Office. http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_98/36cfr65_98.html. Retrieved 2008-04-05. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h National Park Service (June 2011). "National Historic Landmarks Survey: List of NHLs by State" (PDF). http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/LIST11.pdf. Retrieved 2011-07-04. 
  5. ^ a b c d National Park Service. "National Historic Landmark Program: NHL Database". http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/default.cfm. Retrieved 2007-10-04. 
  6. ^ "Sitka Naval Operating Base", NPS, Web: NL559-PDF.
  7. ^ Numbers represent an ordering by significant words. Various colorings, defined here, differentiate the National Monuments, National Historic Sites, National Historic Landmark Districts and other higher designations from other NHL buildings, structures, sites or objects.
  8. ^ These are listed on p.110 of "National Historic Landmarks Survey: List of National Historic Landmarks by State", November 2007 version.
  9. ^ Date of listing as National Historic Site or similar designation, from various sources in articles indexed.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j National Park Service. "National Historic Landmark Program: Withdrawal of NHL Designation". http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/DOE_dedesignations/Dedesignations_intro.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-04. 

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