Crescent Bay - Sitka, Alaska, USA

Fishing boats come and go across Crescent Bay in Sitka, on Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska, and this camera looks out over the water toward forested islands and snowy mountains as the weather rolls in from the Pacific.

Sitka's name comes from the Tlingit Shee At'iká, meaning "people on the edge of Shee," their name for Baranof Island. Under Russian rule the town was called New Archangel, and from 1808 it was the capital of Russian America.

On October 18, 1867, Alaska was handed over from Russia to the United States in a ceremony here. Across the water, about 15 miles (24 km) west, stands Mount Edgecumbe, a 3,200-foot (980 m) volcano.

Did You Know? Sitka is the largest city in the United States by area, covering about 4,811 square miles (12,460 sq km), most of it water.

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