SITKA Administrative History

Chapter 4:
SITKA NATIONAL MONUMENT, MIDDLE YEARS (continued)

The period 1940 to 1965 began with bright promise, as the National Park Service devoted new attention to Sitka National Monument's resources, and then became a frustrating time as resource preservation had to be weighed in the balance with national defense needs.

Development ideas

Part of the bright promise came from desires to expand and enhance the monument's resources. Miller, although not trained as an historian, began a research program and turned up an original transfer map (showing Sitka properties transferred from the Russian to American governments in 1867) and a typewritten inventory in records of the U.S. Commissioner at Sitka. He also supplemented his monthly narrative reports with photographs of resources in Sitka National Monument and historic sites in Sitka proper.

Been, who said in 1939 that the monument was "antithetical" to National Park Service purposes, in 1940 endorsed Miller's recommendation that the service assume jurisdiction over Castle Hill. He also suggested a project to salvage the wreck of Neva, a Russian American Company ship that foundered near Sitka in 1813. A local diver with his own equipment was available in Sitka for about $40 per hour and might be hired as a skilled workman by the CCC. He also advised "There is probably no immediate responsibility of the Service toward historical values in Alaska of greater importance than acquisition and protection of St. Michael's Cathedral." A year later, Been again discussed acquisition of St. Michael's and added the old Russian cemetery to his list of Sitka properties important to the park service. In 1942, Been concluded that the National Park Service should preserve the Russian Orphanage. [253]

Regional officials and national officials of the service, as well, took a new interest in Sitka's historical significance and encouraged their Alaskan representatives to identify and document its physical manifestations. The Region IV historian outlined areas of significance that Miller could investigate and Miller's immediate supervisor, Been, encouraged him to prepare a historical development plan for Sitka.

The Washington-based Supervisor of Historic Sites commented that the proposal to acquire Castle Hill had merit and suggested that Miller should provide a map and explanatory data showing the relationship of the hill to Sitka National Monument and also show any other historic sites in the vicinity. Miller even arranged for Lynn A. Forest, at the time a U.S. Forest Service architect at Juneau, to come to Sitka and take measurements and photographs necessary to make documentary drawings of Saint Michael's Cathedral. [254]

A tangible sign of the renewed interest came in April of 1940 when construction began on two pit toilets, the first sanitary facilities in Sitka National Monument. Construction and purchase of a building for an office and modern toilets at the entrance to the monument was approved somewhat later. [255]

There was also interest in acquiring houses on the east side of the road that passed by the monument entrance. Three of the houses sat on the elevated area that later overlooked the visitor center built in the 1960s, while two others lined the road to the north. [256]