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History · St. Michael

St. Michael dates to 1833, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of St. Michael was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Fort St. Michael. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1880.

1833founded
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From St. Michael’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How St. Michael began

When was St. Michael founded?

1833

St. Michael dates its founding to 1833 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 109 in 18802020 census: 456193 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1897.The full story ↓

What stands out about St. Michael’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1900 and 1940, then grew 3-fold.A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1843–1904.Deep rootsEstablished in 1833: 193 years of St. Michael.
★ What stands out · People over time

St. Michael, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020857 in 1900Low: 142

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1900 and 1940, then grew 3-fold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Michael’s Wikipedia page.

By decade

St. Michael, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1840s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1840s–1890s11 items
StMichaelRedoubtc. 1843StMichaelRedoubtSt. Michael, Alaska in August 18791879St. Michael, Alaska in August 1879New-racket-steamer1882New-racket-steamerFMIB 45400 Michaelovsky1897FMIB 45400 MichaelovskySaint Michael, looking toward the waterfront with ships at anchor, 18971897Saint Michael, looking toward the waterfront with shi…Group of men in front of a hotel, Fort Get-There, Saint Michael, Alaska, June 20, 18981898Group of men in front of a hotel, Fort Get-There, Sai…Portrait of a passenger on the sternwheeler PHILIP B. LOW, July 18981898Portrait of a passenger on the sternwheeler PHILIP B.…Small harbor at Fort Get-There, Saint Michael, Alaska, June 20, 18981898Small harbor at Fort Get-There, Saint Michael, Alaska…United States military custom houses with women in doorway, Saint Michael, Alaska, June 20, 18981898United States military custom houses with women in do…Derelict steamboats beached on the shores of Saint Michael, Alaska, between 1899 and 19281899Derelict steamboats beached on the shores of Saint Mi…Indigenous cemetery in St. Michael, Alaska, ca. 1899 - DPLA - 4bc5545c7ca67883fd96beb6073ac439c. 1899Indigenous cemetery in St. Michael, Alaska, ca. 1899 …
1900s7 items
Saint Michael and harbor, probably 1900c. 1900Saint Michael and harbor, probably 1900St. Michael, Alaska, ca. 1900c. 1900St. Michael, Alaska, ca. 1900St. Michael, 19011901St. Michael, 1901Group of people standing in front of Northern Commercial Company retail Store and office, Saint Michael, probably 1903c. 1903Group of people standing in front of Northern Commerc…FMIB 41287 St Michael, Looking South Toward the site of the Northern Commercial Company's plant1904FMIB 41287 St Michael, Looking South Toward the site …FMIB 41354 St Michael, looking from the inner harbor toward the site of the North American Transportation and Trading C…1904FMIB 41354 St Michael, looking from the inner harbor …FMIB 41404 Eskimo family at work carving ivory and sewing fur clothing, St Michael1904FMIB 41404 Eskimo family at work carving ivory and se…
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Timeline

St. Michael, 1833 to 1952

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1833
    FoundingSt. Michael is established
  3. 1843In the archiveStMichaelRedoubt
  4. 1879In the archiveSt. Michael, Alaska in August 1879
  5. 1882In the archiveNew-racket-steamer
  6. 1897In the archiveFMIB 45400 Michaelovsky
  7. 1897Post officeThe Saint Michael post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1900In the archiveSaint Michael and harbor, probably 1900
  10. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 857
  11. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How St. Michael came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. Michael.

Read it all →

Redoubt St. Michael was founded in 1833 by traders of the Russian-American Company, as a trading post for trade with the Yup'ik people of the area. The trading settlement and the island were named after the archangel Michael.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

St. Michael on the map in 1952

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Michael.

St. Michael on the 1952 USGS map1952Saint Michael B-1 sheet · 1:63,360

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of St. Michael.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

StMichaelRedoubt
Retake this viewStMichaelRedoubt, c. 1843

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on St. Michael’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in St. Michael

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Fort St. Michael
Fort St. Michael
Buildings
Fort St. MichaelBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint MichaelTechek
Gone or out of use
Saint Michael Seaplane Baseairport

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish St. Michael’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewStMichaelRedoubt: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

StebbinsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about St. Michael’s history

What year was St. Michael founded?

In 1833, according to Wikidata. St. Michael’s post office opened in 1897, and the census of 1880 counted 109 people here.

What is on the National Register in St. Michael?

One place: the Fort St. Michael (listed 1977).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.