Wrangell guide
11 listed · checked Oct 5, 2026

History & culture in Wrangell

The people and history of Wrangell: museums, cultural centers, totem parks and historic sites. Every fact links to its source.

Wrangell in brief

  1. Petroglyph Beach holds 40 or more known rock carvings, and the site dates back roughly 8,000 years. (dnr.alaska.gov · checked Oct 5, 2026)
  2. Tlingit migration stories tell of reaching the coast through 'the hole in the ice,' which Wrangell's Tlingit understand to be the Stikine River corridor. (wrangell.com · checked Oct 5, 2026)
  3. Seeing benefits in working with the Russians, Chief Shakes V of the Stikine Tlingit moved the village from its earlier 'old town' site to Shakes Island, near the Russian post in what is now central Wrangell. (wrangell.com · checked Oct 5, 2026)
  4. Lt. Dionysius Zarembo landed in 1833, and the following year, 1834, the Russians founded Redoubt St. Dionysus, the beginning of Wrangell. (wrangell.com · checked Oct 5, 2026)
  5. On May 30, 1840, the Hudson's Bay Company ship Beaver arrived and the British flag replaced the Russian one over the fort. (wrangell.com · checked Oct 5, 2026)
  6. After the U.S. bought Alaska in 1867, a U.S. military post was set up at Wrangell in 1868, with a new fort built for $26,000. (wrangell.com · checked Oct 5, 2026)
  7. Three gold rushes passed through Wrangell: Stikine River gold in 1861, the Cassiar strikes starting in 1872, and the 1898 Klondike rush up the Stikine to the Teslin Trail. (wrangell.com · checked Oct 5, 2026)
  8. Naturalist John Muir based many Southeast Alaska explorations in Wrangell in the 1880s, and Wrangell incorporated as a city in 1903. (wrangell.com · checked Oct 5, 2026)

3 listed

History & culture in Wrangell

Chief Shakes Tribal House

Heritage site · Shakes Island, Reliance Harbor

Replica Naanyaa.aayi clan house on Shakes Island, the historic home site of Chief Shakes' lineage, run by the Wrangell Cooperative Association.

House posts inside are replicas of originals considered the oldest known house posts in existence. Most original island poles were removed for preservation.

Hours
Opened on request for guided visits (call WCA)
Address
155 Shakes St., Wrangell, AK 99929
Phone
(907) 874-4304
CallDirectionsWebsite

Petroglyph State Historic Site

Historic site · About 1 mile from the ferry terminal

Beach with at least 40 rock carvings at a site about 8,000 years old; a boardwalk leads to a viewing deck with replicas.

7-acre state site with an accessible boardwalk. Replica designs on the deck are provided for rubbings.

Hours
Hours not published. Call ahead.
Address
Grave Street, Wrangell, AK 99929
DirectionsWebsite

Wrangell Museum

Museum · Nolan Center, downtown

Museum in the Nolan Center on the enduring Lingít presence and Wrangell's Russian, British and American eras.

Admission $12; $8 Alaska residents; kids 12 and under free. Gift shop sells Lingít artwork and regional history books.

Hours
Hours not published. Call ahead.
Address
296 Campbell Drive, Wrangell, AK 99929
Phone
(907) 874-3770
CallDirectionsWebsite

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