New Russia Site (Yakutat, Alaska)

 archaeological site, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, abandoned settlement, historic landmark, U.S. National Historic Landmark

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Historic site of a former Russian fur trading post listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

Built: 1796
Destroyed: 1805
Area: 1 acre
Date added to NRHP: 2/23/1972
Other designations: U.S. National Historic Landmark
Notes: This was once the site of a total of 12 buildings that made up a fur trading post established by Russia in 1796. The site served as a link between the fur trading center of Kodiak and the direction of migration of the sea otters that the Russians followed and ultimately drove to extinction. A territorial dispute with the Tlingit natives from whom Russia had purchased this site resulted in an attack on the complex by the natives. The attack claimed the lives of all but a handful of Russians, mostly women and children. Further Tlingit hostility effectively prevented further incursion into the Yakutat Bay area by the Russians for several decades. Today, the site is devoid of almost any sign that there was once a settlement here. A stray log or two, as well as evidence of charcoal beneath the surface of the ground, is all that remains, although the site remains of archeological interest.