Kruzof Island
| Native name: Tlikh | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Archipelago | Alexander Archipelago |
| Area | 167.47 sq mi (433.7 km2) |
| Length | 24 mi (39 km) |
| Width | 9 mi (14 km) |
| Highest elevation | 3,201 ft (975.7 m) |
| Highest point | Mt. Edgecumbe |
| Country | |
|
United States | |
| State |
 Alaska |
Kruzof Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska at 57°10′14″N 135°40′29″W / 57.17056°N 135.67472°W. It is about 16 km (9.9 mi) west of Sitka, and is part of the City and Borough of Sitka. It was named in 1805 by Captain U.T. Lisianski as Crooze Island,[1] after a Russian Admiral.[2] In 1849, Captain Tebenkov recorded the Tlingit name for the island as being Tlikh.[2]
Naming history
Before being named by Lisianski, it was called San Jacinto after Mt Edgecumbe was named Montaña de San Jacinto by Don Juan de la Bodega y Quadra in 1775. La Perousé referred to that name by calling the island St. Hyacinthe.[2] Captain Nathaniel Portlock named the island Pitt Island in 1787.[2][3] Early Russian traders called it Sitka Island. In 1849, Constantin Grewingk called the island Edgecumbe.[2]
Geography
The island is 37 km (23 mi) long and 13 km (8.1 mi) wide with a land area of 167.47 sq mi (433.7 km2), making it the 41st largest island in the United States. The island is formed in part by Mount Edgecumbe, a small dormant[4] stratovolcano and several cones and collapsed cones that make up its volcanic field.
Human importance
It does not have a permanent resident population.[5] There is a maintained trail leading from Fred's Creek cabin, a USFS cabin on the inside coast, to the summit of Mt. Edgecumbe, as well as several trails across the island.
Kalinin Bay, on the northern shore of the island, provided the name for the World War II warship USS Kalinin Bay. From the 1950s through the 1970s, forests on Kruzof Island were the source for clearcut timber extraction.[4]
References
- ↑ Whymper, Frederick (1869). Travel and adventure in the territory of Alaska formerly Russian America, now ceded to the United States, and in various other parts of the north Pacific. New York: Harper & Bros. p. 97.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Orth, Donald J. (1967). Dictionary of Alaska Place Names, Geological Survey, Professional Paper 567. Washington: United States Government Printing Office.
- ↑ Portlock, Nathaniel (1789). A Voyage Round the World; But More Particularly, to the North-West Coast of America: Performed in 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, in the King George and Queen Charlotte, Captains Portlock and Dixon. London: Printed for John Stockdale, Opposite Burlington-House, Piccadilly; and George Goulding, James Street, Covent Garden. p. 275.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Woolsey, Robert (26 November 2012). "Thinking about ‘stewardship’ on Sitka’s doorstep". Raven Radio (Sitka, Alaska, United States). Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ↑ Kruzof Island: Blocks 1014 and 1015, Census Tract 1, Sitka City and Borough, Alaska United States Census Bureau