Chief Shakes Historic Site

Chief Shakes Historic Site
Alaska Heritage Resources Survey
Chief Shakes Historic Site is located in Alaska
Chief Shakes Historic Site
LocationShakes Island, inside Wrangell Harbor, Wrangell, Alaska
Coordinates56°27′57″N 132°22′50″W / 56.46571°N 132.38062°W / 56.46571; -132.38062
Area0.704 acres (0.285 ha)
Built1940 (1940)
ArchitectCivilian Conservation Corps
NRHP reference No.70000918[1]
AHRS No.PET-010
Added to NRHPOctober 27, 1970

The Chief Shakes Historic Site is a historic collection of original and recreated Native Alaskan artifacts. It is located on Shakes Island, inside Wrangell Harbor, Wrangell City and Borough, Alaska. The most prominent feature of the site is a 1940 reconstruction of a Tlingit community house. This structure incorporates six original house posts, carved poles similar to totem poles. The house posts, four of which are from the community house of Chief Shakes, a line of like-named Tlingit clan leaders, are reported to be among the oldest known to survive. The house is surrounded by seven totem poles, two of which are original Tlingit work, and five of which are copies created by crews of the Civilian Conservation Corps that also built the house.[2]

The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.[1]

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "NRHP nomination for Chief Shakes Historic Site". National Park Service. Retrieved May 24, 2014.