Sitka Blockhouse

This reproduction of the blockhouse was built in 1962.

NPS Photo/ Cinnamon Dockham

Quick Facts

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

MANAGED BY:

Bureau of Land Management

Amenities

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Information Kiosk/Bulletin Board

Even though Russians gained a foothold after the Battle of 1804, they never had much control over the area. The blockhouse was built out of fear of retaliation/ attack by the Tlingit. The current Sitka Blockhouse is an early 1960's replica of the Russian fortification around the town of Sitka. The structure was part of a defensive stockade built around Sitka in the early 1800s. It is located near the Orthodox Church's historic cemetery.
Holy Trinity Church was located close to the blockhouse in the stockade. The church was built in 1849 and consecrated by Bishop Innokentii. This church was built expressly for the local Tlingit community where services could be conducted in the Tlingit language. The church was built right into the stockade surrounding the little Russian town of Novoarkangel’sk (Sitka). The western door of the church opened to the Tlingit village; the eastern doors inside the stockade faced the Russian village. 
Because relations between the Russians and the Tlingit continued to be tense for decades after their initial conflict, the Russians were in a quandary about Tlingit conversion to the Orthodox Church. On the one hand, the Russians were gratified that so many Tlingit desired to attend church. On the other hand, they were uneasy about allowing up to 200 Tlingit at a time into the stockade to go to services. Holy Trinity Church was built to solve this problem.
Originally the Russians built a capital D-shaped five-sided blockhouse on this site facing up Sitka Channel. It overlooked the gate between the Russian outpost and the adjacent Tlingit village. An octagonal blockhouse stood within sight of the crest of the hill, while at the far eastern end of the wall stood a small, square blockhouse by the stream flowing out of Swan Lake.
In 1855 a skirmish at the gate in the stockade led Tlingit men to break into the church and fire upon soldiers within the stockade. A number of soldiers and even more Tlingit were killed. Two years after the violence, the church was reconsecrated as ''Holy Trinity Church," and was used until 1875 when it was dismantled.
In 1926 civic-minded citizens, including the Alaska Native Brotherhood, raised funds and built an octagonal reproduction blockhouse at Sitka National Monument. After decay attacked that structure, a second octagonal reproduction was built at this site in 1962.