Discover 6 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Kodiak Island (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Ascension of Our Lord Chapel, Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park, and Coast Guard Base Kodiak. Also, be sure to include Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Kodiak Island (Alaska).
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Ascension of Our Lord Chapel
Chapel in the Karluk, Alaska. The Ascension of Our Lord Chapel is a historic Russian Orthodox chapel in Karluk, Alaska. Now it is under Diocese of Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America
It is believed that an original church was built in Karluk in the 1700s. The current church was built in 1888, with design and building "attributed to one Charles Smith Hursh". Its architecture shared some with its contemporary Russian Orthodox church at Belkofski, but has "a more fully realized design for a small church, embodying eclectic features of one main stream of R. O. rural church design."
Its design was largely copied in the design of the Nativity of Our Lord Chapel in Ouzinkie, Alaska.
The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
In 2021, the church was relocated from a bluff overlooking the river to prevent its destruction.[1]
Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park
State park in the Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska. Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park, also known as the Fort Abercrombie State Historic Site, is an Alaska state park on Kodiak Island, Alaska. It includes 182 acres of land at the end of Miller Point, located on the eastern shore of Kodiak Island northeast of the city of Kodiak. The park, established in 1969, is noted for its historical World War II fortifications and its scenery, which includes bluffs overlooking the ocean, spruce forests, and meadows. The site was named in honor of the early Alaska explorer and United States Army officer Lt. Col. William R. Abercrombie. The fortifications, whose surviving elements include gun emplacements, underground magazines, and foundational remnants of buildings, were built in 1941 and abandoned after the war ended, having seen no action.
The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and was included in the National Historic Landmark designation of the Kodiak Naval Operating Base and Forts Greely and Abercrombie in 1985.
Park facilities include a campground (best suited for tent camping as the park's narrow and winding roads make RV access difficult), a group camping area, a picnic area, and hiking trails.[2]
Coast Guard Base Kodiak
Coast Guard Base Kodiak is a major shore installation of the United States Coast Guard, located in Kodiak, Alaska. The largest tenant unit on the base is Air Station Kodiak. It is also the home port for several cutters. Historic elements that it includes are the Kodiak Naval Operating Base, Fort Greely, and Fort Abercrombie.
The station is the subject of the series Coast Guard Alaska on The Weather Channel and is prominently featured in the 2006 film The Guardian and is frequently referenced in the Discovery Channel series Deadliest Catch.[3]
Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska
The Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska, formerly known as the Kodiak Launch Complex, is a dual-use commercial and military spaceport for sub-orbital and orbital launch vehicles. The facility is owned and operated by the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, a public corporation of the State of Alaska, and is located on Kodiak Island in Alaska.
The spaceport opened in 1998 and has supported 30 (up to March 2022) launches, most of those for the U.S. government. The site was closed for two years following a launch failure that caused significant damage to parts of the spaceport. It reopened in August 2016. A failed launch in August 2021 also caused significant damage.[4]
Port Lions
City in Kodiak Island, Alaska. Port Lions is a city located on Kodiak Island in the Kodiak Island Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 194, down from 256 in 2000.
Port Lions was built to house the inhabitants of Ag'waneq from the neighboring island of Afognak and Port Wakefield from Raspberry Island, after their villages were destroyed by the Good Friday earthquake in 1964. Port Lions was built with help from the United States government and the Lions Club. It was named in honor of the club.[5]
Old Harbor
City in Alaska. Old Harbor is a city in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 218, down from 237 in 2000.[6]