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Alaska Day

History · October 18

Alaska Day marks the formal transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States, remembered with flag ceremonies and local history in Sitka.

Alaska Day falls on Monday, October 18, 2027. That is 356 days away.

On a hill in Sitka, a Russian flag came down and an American one went up. That ceremony made the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States official, and Alaska Day remembers it.

The United States bought the territory from Russia, and the handover happened at Castle Hill, which looks out over Sitka's harbor. Sitka had been the capital of Russian America, so the town was the natural stage for the moment. Accounts say the Russian flag snagged on its pole during the lowering, which gave the ceremony an awkward pause nobody had planned.

Alaska keeps the day as a state holiday, and Sitka marks it most fully. People there dress in period clothing, reenact the flag ceremony on Castle Hill, and gather for a parade and community events. Elsewhere in the state it tends to be quieter, a day off with some history attached.

The story is more layered than a simple sale. Tlingit people and other Alaska Native communities lived on this land long before either flag flew over it, and many Alaskans use the day to think about that longer history too. Museums and cultural centers often tell both parts.

For anyone outside Alaska, the day is a prompt to look north at a place that is huge, varied and easy to know only from photos. Sitka itself sits on Baranof Island and can be reached by boat or plane, not by road from the rest of the continent.

Ways to celebrate

• Read about the flag ceremony on Castle Hill in Sitka.
• Look for a museum exhibit on Alaska Native history and culture.
• Find Sitka on a map and trace the coastline around Baranof Island.
• Watch a documentary about Alaska's landscapes and towns.
• Share an old photo or story from a trip to Alaska.

Dates

All national days on October 18

Also on October 18

• National Chocolate Cupcake Day
• National Mashed Potato Day
• National No Beard Day

Categories: History days