Record Atlas
5 eras · 1784–2026 · 25 places

Alaska — Russian America to statehood

Sitka, Juneau, Kodiak, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Nome, the Aleutians. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1784–1867 Russian America — Russian-American Company from 1799 FamilySearch

Russia's first permanent Alaskan settlement was founded at Three Saints Bay, Kodiak, in 1784; the Russian-American Company was chartered in 1799 and New Archangel (Sitka) became the capital in 1808. The Russian Orthodox Church kept the parish registers: the Diocese of Alaska archives were deposited in the Library of Congress (by 1927 or 1940 depending on the source), with microfilm at the National Archives Pacific Alaska Region and the Alaska State Library, and FamilySearch has Alaska Russian Orthodox records for 1845-1917.
1867–1884 Department of Alaska National Archives Catalog (NARA) · FamilySearch

The United States bought Alaska in 1867 for $7.2 million and the formal transfer is dated October 18, 1867. Control passed among the Army, Treasury and Navy before civil administration began.
1884–1912 District of Alaska FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA) · Chronicling America

Alaska was reorganised as the District of Alaska in 1884. Gold in Canada's Yukon in 1896 and at Nome in 1899 brought gold-rush traffic through the district.
1912–1959 Territory of Alaska FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA) · Chronicling America

The Second Organic Act of 1912 made it the Territory of Alaska. In the Aleutian campaign of 1942-43 Japanese forces occupied Attu and Kiska; Aleut residents were evacuated or interned and the Attuans were resettled at Atka after the war.
1959–2026 United States — State of Alaska FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA) · Chronicling America

Alaska was admitted as a state on January 3, 1959.

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1784–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

25 places on this ground

1742 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

…and 1682 more.

All record regions · The map