Spruce Island (Alaska)

Spruce Island
Icon Bay
Spruce Island is located in Alaska
Spruce Island
Spruce Island
Location within Alaska
Geography
LocationNorth Pacific Ocean
Coordinates57°55′05″N 152°24′35″W / 57.91806°N 152.40972°W / 57.91806; -152.40972
ArchipelagoKodiak Archipelago
Area17.786 sq mi (46.07 km2)
Highest elevation1,339 ft (408.1 m)
Administration
State Alaska
BoroughKodiak Island Borough
Demographics
Population242 (2000)

Spruce Island (Russian: Еловый остров) is an island in the Kodiak Archipelago of the Gulf of Alaska in the US state of Alaska. It lies just off the northeast corner of Kodiak Island, across the Narrow Strait.

Size and demographics

Spruce Island has a land area of 46.066 km2 (17.786 sq mi) and a population of 242, at the time of the 2000 census,[1] whom reside mainly at the island's one settlement, Ouzinkie (in the southwestern part of the island).

History

Russian Orthodox monastery at Monk's Lagoon, Icon Bay, Spruce Island, Alaska.

From 1808 to 1818, Spruce Island was the hermitage of Herman of Alaska, later glorified as a saint and considered the patron saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the Americas. The island was referred to as New Valaam (Russian: Ново-Валаамский) by St. Herman, and is a site of pilgrimages by Orthodox Christians.

In 2008, a group of commentators and researchers—led by the mayor of the northern Siberian city of Yakutsk—argued that the island should, legally, still belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, as the Russian Empire had no authority to sell "religious property" as part of the Alaska Purchase.[2]

References

  1. ^ Spruce Island: Blocks 2034 thru 2045, Census Tract 1, Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska United States Census Bureau
  2. ^ Tetraultfarber, G. "After Crimea, Russians Say They Want Alaska Back". The Moscow Times. April 1, 2014.


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