Sitka, Alaska
Sitka (Tlingit: Sheetʼká; Russian: Ситка) is a unified city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Baranof Island and the south half of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean (part of the Alaska Panhandle). As of the 2020 census, Sitka had a population of 8,458,[4] making it the fifth-most populated city in the state.
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"Sitka" redirects here. For other uses, see Sitka (disambiguation).Sitka has the following sister city:[72]
With a consolidated land area of 2,870.3 square miles (7,434 square kilometers) and total area (including water) of 4,811.4 square miles (12,461 km2), Sitka is the largest city by total area in the U.S.
Education[edit]
Colleges and universities[edit]
Sitka hosts one active post-secondary institution, the University of Alaska Southeast-Sitka Campus, located on Japonski Island in an old World War II hangar. Sheldon Jackson College, a small Presbyterian-affiliated private college, suspended operations in June 2007, after several years of financial stress.[61] Outer Coast College, a private liberal arts college established in 2015, is currently in development as an undergraduate institution founded on the former campus of Sheldon Jackson College.
Infrastructure[edit]
Transportation[edit]
Sitka is only accessible by boat or plane as it is on a pair of islands in the Pacific Ocean. Vehicles are usually brought to Sitka via the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system or the barge. However, a vehicle is not an absolute necessity in Sitka, as there are only 14 miles (23 kilometers) of road from one end of the island to another. Almost everything is within walking distance from the downtown area, which is where the majority of employers are situated. Public transportation is also available.
By air, Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport offers scheduled passenger jet service operated year-round by Alaska Airlines and seasonally by Delta Connection.
Delays in fall and winter due to Sitka's weather are frequent. The airport is located on Japonski Island, which is connected to Baranof Island by the O'Connell Bridge. The O'Connell Bridge, completed in 1972, was the first vehicular cable-stayed bridge in the United States. The Sitka Seaplane Base is a seaplane landing area situated in the Sitka Channel, adjacent to the airport.
Ferry travel back and forth to Juneau, Ketchikan and other towns in Southeast Alaska is provided through the Alaska Marine Highway System. The ferry terminal is located 7 miles (11 km) north of downtown and a ferry ticket costs about $89 per person each way to Juneau (as of February 2023). Vehicles, pets and bicycles can also be taken on the ferry for an additional charge.
Sitka's location on the outer coast of the Alaska Panhandle is removed from routes running through Chatham Strait. The tides of Peril Strait allow mainline vessels through only at slack tide.[67]
Alaska Marine Lines, a barge and freight company, has the ability to move cars to other communities connected to the mainland by road systems.
A three-way partnership of non-profits (Center for Community, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and Southeast Senior Services) offers public bus transit, funded by the Federal Transit Administration and the Alaska Department of Transportation. All buses are fully accessible, with service from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
In 2008, the League of American Bicyclists awarded Sitka the bronze level in bicycle friendliness, making Sitka the first bicycle-friendly community in Alaska. In 2013, the Walk Friendly Communities[68] program awarded Sitka with a bronze award, making Sitka the first Alaska community with a Walk Friendly Communities designation. Sitka is the only Alaska community to have both a Bicycle Friendly Community and a Walk Friendly Communities designation.
Healthcare[edit]
There is currently one hospital serving Sitka, Edgecumbe Hospital, which sits on Japonski Island across Sitka Harbor from the city. The facility is part of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, or SEARHC, a non-profit tribal health consortium of 18 Native communities. The hospital serves as a regional referral center for people throughout Southeast Alaska, and also provides primary outpatient care. Numerous specialty clinics are offered at the hospital that are not available in the smaller communities such as neurology, orthopedic, dermatology, ophthalmology and denture clinics.
The former Sitka Community Hospital was purchased by the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) in April 2019, and now functions as a long-term care facility for patients of Edgecumbe hospital.[69]
Media[edit]
Print[edit]
Sitka is served by the Daily Sitka Sentinel, one of the few remaining independently owned daily newspapers in the state. Sitka also receives circulation of the Capital City Weekly, a weekly regional newspaper based out of Juneau.
Alaska's first newspaper following the Alaska purchase, the Sitka Times, was published by Barney O. Ragan on September 19, 1868. Only four issues were published that year, as Ragan cited a lack of resources available at the time. The paper resumed publishing the following year as the Alaska Times. In 1870, it moved to Seattle, where the year following it was renamed the Seattle Times (not to be confused with the modern-day newspaper of the same name).[65]
Television[edit]
KTNL-TV (MeTV) broadcasts out of Sitka on Channel 13 (Cable 6) serving Southeast Alaska. Additionally, KSCT-LP (NBC) Channel 5, KTOO (PBS) Channel 10,[66] and KJUD (ABC/CW) serve the region. There was a previous NBC affiliate in the Region, KSA-TV, available to cable systems, which is now defunct.
Sitka
United States
1799, 1804
November 5, 1913 (city)
September 24, 1963
(borough)
December 2, 1971
(unified municipality)
Steven Eisenbeisz[2]
4,815.14 sq mi (12,471.16 km2)
2,870.06 sq mi (7,433.42 km2)
1,945.09 sq mi (5,037.75 km2)
2 sq mi (5 km2)
26 ft (8 m)
8,458
8,382 
2.95/sq mi (1.14/km2)
7,668
UTC-8 (AKDT)
02-70540