The Baranof Castle.
Built in 1837 for the official residence of the chief managers of the
Russian American Company, and occupied from the time of Kuprianof
until 1867. It was the headquarters building of the Commanding Officers
of the U. S. troops 1867 to 1877, and was destroyed by fire in 1894.
The U. S. Agricultural Department building occupies the site at the present time.
The structure known as the Baranof Castle, which stood on the hill at the time of the transfer to the United States, would seem to be the third building constructed on the site, was completed about 1837,[[13]] and was burned to the ground on the morning of March 17th, 1894.
The historic building was the scene of many interesting events, and sheltered many distinguished persons.
The first mistress who presided over the mansion on the kekoor was Madame Yanovski, a daughter of Baranof and the wife of Lieutenant Yanovski, the third chief manager of the Russian American Company.
Lady Wrangell was the first to come from Russia to preside as the First Lady of Sitka, and she was succeeded by Madame Kupreanof, who is said to have crossed Siberia and the Pacific Ocean to accompany her husband to his post. Sir Edward Belcher gives a spirited account of a ball given in his honor, in the castle, which was then, in 1837, just completed. He says: “The evening passed most delightfully,” although “few could converse with their partners,” English being spoken by few at that time in the capital of Russian America.
Princess Maksoutoff, the wife of the last chief manager of the colonies, came from St. Petersburg, but died soon after her arrival, and the stone which marks her grave may be seen on the hill between the two cemeteries, near the site of the upper Blockhouse. Her successor, the second Princess Maksoutoff, young and beautiful, presided with grace and tact over the mansion until the transfer of the territory to the United States. She was one of six Russian ladies present at the ceremonies and is said to have wept when the Russian flag was lowered.
There is a legend of a beautiful princess whose ghost haunted the Castle for many years. The story has been told by many at different times and is one of the romantic tales that cluster around the old metropolis of the fur trading days. Her lover was sent away or killed through the influence of an ober offitzer who sought her hand in marriage. Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, who wrote so delightfully of Sitka in her journeys in Alaska in 1883, says that, “By tradition the Lady in Black was the daughter of one of the old governors. On her wedding night she disappeared from the ballroom in the midst of the festivities, and after a long search was found dead in one of the small drawing rooms.”[[14]]
