Welcome to Wrangell-Petersburg Area, Alaska A Proud Part of the Genealogy Trails Group Welcome to the Genealogy Trails website for the Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area in Alaska. Our goal is to help you track your ancestors through time by transcribing genealogical and historical data and placing it online for the free use of all researchers. This is a continuation of our original Illinois Trails History and Genealogy Project and we are excited about this opportunity to expand into other states. We welcome your feedback and comments, and of course, your data contributions. If you have transcribed data that you would like to have posted on this website, please send it to us. If you would like to be kept informed of our state and county website updates, subscribe to our mailing lists This Site is Available for Adoption! We are looking for a coordinator for this site.... folks who share our dedication to putting data online and are interested in helping this project be as helpful and useful to researchers as it can be. If you are interested in joining our group as host of this site, view our Volunteer Page for further information and contact Kim. Cities and towns Kake Kupreanof Petersburg Port Alexander Thoms Place Wrangell Location and Climate of the City of Wrangell The City of Wrangell is located on the northwest tip of Wrangell Island, 155 miles south of Juneau and 89 miles northwest of Ketchikan. It is near the mouth of the Stikine River, an historic trade route to the Canadian Interior. The community lies at approximately 56.470830° North Latitude and -132.376670° (West) Longitude. (Sec. 25, T062S, R083E, Copper River Meridian.) The area encompasses 45.3 sq. miles of land and 25.6 sq. miles of water. Wrangell is in the maritime climatic zone and experiences cool summers, mild winters, and year-round rainfall. Summer temperatures typically range from 42 to 64; winter temperatures range from 21 to 44. Average annual precipitation is 82 inches, including 64 inches of snowfall. Fog is common from September through December. History, Culture and Demographics Wrangell is one of the oldest non-Native settlements in Alaska. In 1811, the Russians began fur trading with area Tlingits, and built a stockade named Redoubt Saint Dionysius in 1834. The Island was named for Ferdinand Von Wrangel, manager of the Russian-American Co. around 1830. The British of Hudson's Bay Co. leased the fort in 1840, and named the stockade Fort Stikine. A large Stikine Indian village known as Kotzlitzna was located 13 miles south of the fort. The Tlingits claimed their own ancient trade rights to the Stikine River, and protested when the Hudson Bay Company began to use their trade routes. But two epidemics of smallpox, in 1836 and 1840, reduced the Tlingit population by half. The fort was abandoned in 1849 when furs were depleted. The fort remained under the British flag until Alaska's purchase by the U.S. in 1867. In 1868, a U.S. military post called Fort Wrangell was established, named for the Island. The community continued to grow as an outfitter for gold prospectors in 1861, 1874-77, and in 1897. Riotous activity filled gambling halls, dance halls, and the streets. Thousands of miners traveled up the Stikine River into the Cassiar District of British Columbia during 1874, and again to the Klondike in 1897. Glacier Packing Company began operating in Wrangell in 1889. The Wilson & Sylvester Sawmill provided packing boxes for canneries, and lumber for construction. The City was incorporated in 1903. By 1916, fishing and forest products had become the primary industries -- four canneries and a cold storage plant were constructed by the late 1920s. In the 1930s, cold packing of crab and shrimp was occurring. Abundant spruce and hemlock resources have helped to expand the lumber and wood products industry. The Alaska Pulp Corporation sawmill, Wrangell's largest employer, closed in late 1994. A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community -- the Wrangell Cooperative Assoc.. The population of the community consists of 23.8% Alaska Native or part Native. Wrangell is primarily a non-Native community with a mixture of Tlingit, Russian, British and American historical influences. Logging and fishing have supported the community. Economy and Transportation Wrangell's economy is based on commercial fishing and timber from the Tongass National Forest. Fishing and fish processing are an important segment of the economy. 250 residents hold commercial fishing permits. Dive fisheries are also under development -- 60 divers harvest sea urchins, sea cucumbers and geoducks. Although Wrangell offers a deep-water port, they cater to the smaller cruise ships. Stikine River sportfishing attracts independent travelers. The City is accessible by air and water. The marine facilities include a breakwater, deep draft dock, State Ferry terminal, two small boat harbors with 498 slips, and boat launch. Freight arrives by barge, ship, ferry and cargo plane. Online Data [Coming Soon!] Biographies Births Cemeteries Census Data Deaths History Obituaries Marriages Military Data Newspapers   Email Us   Adjacent boroughs and census areas Sitka City and Borough, Alaska - northwest Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska - north Prince of Wales - Outer Ketchikan Census Area, Alaska - south Also shares eastern border with British Columbia, Canada. Kitimat-Stikine Regional District, British Columbia Copyright © 2007 by: Genealogy Trails Submitters retain all copyrights