A Visit to Home: Fort Ross

Fort Ross was (Крѣпость Россъ, tr. Krepostʹ Ross) was the southernmost settlement of the Russian Empire on North American Soil.  It is located approximately 15 miles north of Bodega Bay in Northern California and was active from 1812-1841.  Originally founded to support the Russian-American company in its fur trading activities, it transitioned to an agricultural support location for the colonies in Russian Alaska.  It also served as a diplomatic point between the Spanish (and later Mexican) empires and the Russian empire.

Walking Up:

The main courtyard:

 Rotchev House:  House of the last commandant of the fort and the only original surviving structure:

Out the front gate to the Pacific Ocean.  The path goes down to a bay:

Inside the courtyard:

Inside one of the two blockhouses:

Cannon:

Orthodox Church.  It is still occasionally used;

Inside Kuskov House, the residence of all commandants prior to Rotchev:

Armory (For Reverend Paul and Glen):

These are a view of what the trading store would have looked like.  Keep mind there was probably nothing like this for several hundred miles in any direction:

From the window of the other blockhouse:

Outside the Fort:

A reconstruction of one of the two windmills at the fort (these were the first windmills in California).  This is a hand built reconstruction of Russian Pine by Russian craftsmen:

As you can guess from the amount of pictures, Fort Ross is just about my favorite state park in California.  I have always felt that this period of time, the intersection of Native American, Russian, and Spanish/Mexican cultures was one of the greatly unknown and underinvestigated parts of California history