The twentieth century tested the town twice. In June 1912 the Novarupta eruption — the largest of the century, across Shelikof Strait near Mount Katmai — buried Kodiak under a foot and a half of ash and turned midday to midnight for three days. Then on March 27, 1964, the Good Friday earthquake — magnitude 9.2, the strongest ever recorded in North America — sent tsunamis through the harbor that carried the fishing fleet into the streets and destroyed most of downtown. Kodiak rebuilt both times, faster than anyone expected, and the working waterfront you see today is the answer the town gave.
Today Kodiak is Alaska in concentrate — a seven-thousand-year Alutiiq homeland, the first capital of Russian Alaska, a top American fishing port, the Coast Guard's largest base, and bear country without apology. Its story runs from Sun'aq through Three Saints Bay and Paul's Harbor, ash and tsunami, to the harbor forest of masts. Wear a little of the Emerald Isle.
Why People Visit Kodiak Alaska
- Go bear viewing in the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge — floatplane, boat, or guided hike to watch the biggest brown bears on Earth work a salmon stream.
- Walk the Russian layer downtown: the Baranov Museum in the c. 1808 Magazin, the Holy Resurrection church and Saint Herman's relics, and the Alutiiq Museum's 7,000-year story.
- Hike Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park — WWII gun emplacements in the spruce above the cliffs — and Pillar Mountain over town.
- Fish the famous water: charters for halibut and salmon, the Buskin River run, and the harbor's forest of masts.
- Ride out to Narrow Cape for the spaceport road, surf-watching, and buffalo on the hills.
- Ferry or floatplane to the wild edges — Shuyak Island's kayak country and Spruce Island's pilgrim trail.
