Alaska's first fish cannery opened in Sitka in 1878, and fishing is still the town's largest industry; the O'Connell Bridge (1972) was the first cable-stayed bridge in the United States.
The Tlingit have lived on this coast — Sheet'ká — for more than ten thousand years, and the Sheet'ká Kwáan remain a thriving culture in Sitka today.
Why People Visit Sitka Alaska
Sitka offers world-historical depth in a working Alaska fishing town — Tlingit heritage, Russian Imperial architecture, the birthplace of Alaska Day, old-growth coastal rainforest, totem poles, and a working harbor — all within a walkable downtown along the outer Pacific. Visitors combine cathedral and museum stops with rainforest trails, whale-watching, raptor rehabilitation tours, and the simple pleasure of standing on the hill where the flags changed in 1867. It is photogenic, walkable, and unlike any other town on the Alaska coast.
