I’m off to a place where the place where the crab can be found.— Hobo Jim, “Off to Dutch Harbor”
On final approach to the airport, two separate container ship ports are visible. Empty shipping containers are stacked high all around the huge cranes and cold-storage buildings. Work continues on Unisea’s new fish processing plant in the foreground. In the background, empty refrigerated containers are ready to be loaded with frozen pollock and shipped to market. Mt. Ballyhoo is in the background.
The world changed for the Unangan when the Russians arrived in the 1700s. The explorers, including Vitus Bering, were accompanied by naturalists, scientists and Russian Orthodox priests.Detailed information on the trading, settlements and integration of the Russians is available at the museum and the city’s new library. But the most impressive remnant of the Russian period is theThe cathedral is located right on the water in the middle of town.
The buildup continued as the U.S. entered the war when Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941. But the war came to Unalaska when Japanese bombers struck on Jun. 3, 1942.The Museum of the Aleutians has a comprehensive gallery on the war years, including the forced evacuation of Aleutian Islanders to internment camps in Southeast Alaska.
The visitor center and the airport sit at the base of Mt. Ballyhoo, which was home to Fort Schwatka during the war. Hike up the road to the summit on the back side of Mt. Ballyhoo to see some of the old battlements. Here, soldiers kept a vigilant watch for enemy ships and planes. At sea level, anti-submarine nets were strung across the narrow bays.