09/07/2026
👻 YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW…
There are old brick baking ovens hidden beneath a building on Lincoln Street—and they date back to the days of Russian America.
They’re reportedly still in the basement of the Tilson Building, better known historically as Russian-American Building No. 29.
Built around 1852, the building housed employees of the Russian-American Company. But it wasn’t just living quarters—it also contained a kitchen, laundry, storage areas and a bakery.
And those old brick ovens survived.
So did something even older.
Beneath the building’s modern siding are massive hand-hewn spruce logs from the Russian period, chinked with moss gathered from Sitka’s muskeg.
Even the view was different. The back of the building once faced directly onto Sitka’s waterfront before later development and filling changed the shoreline.
More than 170 years later, Building No. 29 is still standing at 202–206 Lincoln Street.
And beneath the feet of people walking through downtown Sitka, pieces of Russian America are still hiding in plain sight.
👻 Sitka has layers. Some of them are underground.
