Woody Island (Alaska)
| Woody Island | ||
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| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| Archipelago | Kodiak Archipelago | |
| Geographical location | 57 ° 47 '5 " N , 152 ° 19' 43" W | |
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| length | 4 km | |
| width | 2.5 km | |
| surface | 6.66 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 49 m | |
| Residents | 1 <1 inh / km² |
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Woody Island is an island in the Kodiak Archipelago in Alaska in the United States . It is located 4 km east of Kodiak in Chiniak Bay . The island is 6.66 km² in size. In 2000 there was one person living on Woody Island . For thousands of years the island has been inhabited by the Unangan , who called it Tangirnaq . In 1894 it was officially referred to as Wood Island . The first road in Alaska was built on it. If one disregards the time of the native inhabitants, four settlement periods can be determined for the island.
history
Settlement by the Unangan
For thousands of years the island has been inhabited by the Unangan, who called themselves Tangirnarmiut , which means "the people of 'Tangirnaq" ". They used the island for fishing, whaling, and woodworking, and built large houses and villages. When Russian fur hunters came to Alaska in the 18th century, the Unangan were initially able to repel them, but in the end they were brutally subjugated. Epidemics, resettlements and executions of resistance members followed. In 1805, 54 Unangan lived in a village on the west side of Woody Island . When an epidemic of smallpox hit the region in 1837 , the survivors were housed by the Russians in various villages, one of which was on Woody Island .
Economic use
From 1852 the Russian-American Company operated an ice works on the island. For this purpose, Lake Tanignak was dammed and the ice produced was shipped to California . To transport the ice, horses were imported, railroad tracks were laid and the first road in Alaska was built. A specially built sawmill produced sawdust, which was then used to isolate the ice. Many local Unangan were forced by the Russians to work for the ice industry in winter and in summer they had to hunt fur seals and sea otters to get the valuable furs. In 1872 a Russian Orthodox church was built on Woody Island . By 1886 the island was the economic center of Kodiak. This included the ice industry, a grist mill, the port and the fur trade. When the stocks of sea otters decreased, fur hunting was stopped at the beginning of the 20th century.
Religious use
Ernest and Ida Roscoe built a Baptist mission and orphanage on Woody Island in 1893 . Gradually, a girls 'and boys' home, an office building, barns, a carpenter's shop, a canning factory, a warehouse and a dining room were added. The mission became home to the Unangan orphans and the missionaries sometimes took care of children they separated from their parents. The Mission's main building burned down completely in 1925 and 1937 and was then relocated to Kodiak .
In 1911 the US Navy built a radio station on the island. It consisted of two 69 m high antennas. When the Novarupta erupted on the Alaska Peninsula in 1912, almost half a meter of ash piled up on Woody Island . During the ash rain, lightning struck one of the two antennas and triggered a fire that burned the radio station down almost completely. Many of the men stationed there lost everything they had. The wildlife on the island was also wiped out by the eruption, only the bears survived. The radio station was rebuilt and expanded in 1914 and then shut down on February 28, 1931. The orphaned buildings were then used by the Longwood School.
After the mission and the orphanage moved to Kodiak, the island's population declined rapidly. Longwood School's enrollment decreased from 71 in 1937 to 20 in 1939 and was closed for good thereafter. Much of the indigenous population moved to Kodiak, where they could lead more independent lives and find work.
Air monitoring station
In 1941 the Civil Aeronautics Administration built the Kadiak Naval Air Station with a runway, workshop, control room, radio station, beacon and ultra-short wave transmitter . The facility collected weather and other flight data and passed it on to the pilots. Up to 40 technicians and their families lived on Woody Island during the Second World War . They used the facility's teleprinters, transmitters, and radio receivers to support the military and civil aviation in the northern Pacific .
In 1951 or 1952 the Russian Orthodox Church was demolished. Previous Navy buildings were converted into apartments and a school was built for the small community in 1951. The FAA facility was automated in the 1970s and largely destroyed by fire in 1979.
Todays use
In the 1950s, the American Baptist Churches began offering a non-denominational summer camp on the island, which still exists today. The FAA still maintains a beacon for aviation orientation. In 2000, only one hermit lived on Woody Island ; a few families come to the island in the summer. Most of the island is privately owned, the rest is part of Alaska State Parks .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Woody Island: Block 3001, Census Tract 1, Kodiak Island Borough United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People of Southern Alaska" .
- ↑ a b Omar Stratman (Protestant) vs. Leisnoi, Inc. (respondent); Koniag, Inc. and Bureau of Indian Affairs (Intervenors) . October 13, 1999. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved on December 19, 2008.
- ↑ a b c d e Kodiak Alaska Military History: Woody Island . Kodiak Military History Museum. Retrieved December 18, 2008.
- ↑ Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People of Southern Alaska . Retrieved December 19, 2008.
- ^ A b Nathan Lambert: Historic Woody Island . Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
- ^ Harold Phelps: Radio Station Operations in Kodiak, Alaska in 1924-1925 . Retrieved December 19, 2008.
