building used for courthouse and jail, formerly the Russian
Barracks where the Siberian Battalion was quartered. This is one of the
most prominent of the old buildings which remain. In front of this is
the stairway leading to the top of the hill on which is situated the
building of the Agricultural Department, on the site of the former
residence of the chief manager of the Russian American Company. Around
this hill were the batteries of the Russians, commanding the Kolosh
village and the harbor. The former building was often called the
Governor's Mansion, or the Baranof Castle, was built about 1837 and was
destroyed by fire in 1894. The hill commands a fine view of the harbor
and the surrounding islands. The present structure is the headquarters
of the Alaska division of the Agricultural Department. Opposite the
stairway to the hill is the way leading to the "Ranche;" the open square
was the former parade ground of the Army, and later of the U. S. Marines
from the Man-of-War which was stationed here. East of the old barracks
building is the former counting house of the Company, now occupied as
the U. S. Postoffice, and during the time when Sitka was the Capital of
the Territory it was used by the United States for a Customs office, and
by the Governor as an office. Going east on Lincoln Street, the next
large building at the right was the old bakery and shops of the Company,
later commonly known as the Sitka Trading Company Building, having been
occupied by that company for many years. Beyond this on the same side of
the street at a short distance is a small building, standing back from
the walk, surmounted by a Greek cross, which marks the site of the first
church built in Sitka, in 1817. Next to this lot is the one formerly
occupied by the Lutheran Church, built in the time of Etolin, and in
which the first church service was held by Chaplain Rainier of the U. S.
Army, after the American occupation.

[Illustration: Interior of Cathedral of St. Michael]

Across the street is the Cathedral of St. Michael, the headquarters of
the Greek Orthodox Church in Alaska. In the Territory are claimed to be
ten thousand communicants of that faith and from Sitka the management of
affairs is conducted. The church is in the form of a cross and is
surmounted by the Greek cross. The interior is richly decorated after
the usual custom of the Russian churches. Candlesticks of massive design
stand at either side of the doors of the inner s