Alaska Day
Calendar Date:
Friday is Alaska Day! Celebrating the raising of the United States flag at Sitka in 1867. City Facilities are still Open.
Alaska Day marks the anniversary of the formal transfer of the territory from Russia to the United States and the raising of the United States flag at Sitka on October 18, 1867. It is usually celebrated on October 18 each year.
Though many STATE offices may be closed in observance of this day, all City facilities are OPEN.
After 68 years of Russian rule in Sitka, Alaska, the Russian flag at the governor’s house was lowered on October 18, 1867, and replaced with a United States flag. Two years before, the transcontinental telegraph line reached Sitka, and old expansionist dreams were rekindled. The United States bought the territory for 7.2 million dollars. Many Americans thought this was a waste of money and called Alaska “Seward’s Folly”, after William Seward, the state’s secretary who championed the purchase. Little happened to interest the residence of the rest of the United States until gold was discovered in the Klondike in 1897.
