St. Nicholas Church
In Nikolski, Nikolski, AKNikolski is situated on the southern tip of an Island. According to tradition, the present church is at least the fourth on the island. The first, built sometime during the 19th century, was destroyed by fire. The second, built on the west side of the creek, of sod -- a grass roof and grass floor -- caught fire from the stone lamps used inside it, and burned in 1898. The third church was built between 1898-1900 a few miles from the present church site, where the village was then located. This third church was moved, about 1918, to the present site, where it was replaced by the present St. Nicholas R.O. Church about 1930.
This 49-year-old church retains the basic three-element design, plus an almost independent bell tower, reminiscent of earlier R.O. village churches, but to that is added eclectic details of proportion that are significant to the genre. From west to east the three sain sections measure, longitudinally, 7'6", 34', and 12'. respectively, and, in width, 24', 28', and 24', respectively.
The larger than usual nave segment is also taller than usual, rising up high enough for a second story, but having Windows only at the ground level. It is capped by a low angle pyramidal roof, from the peak of which rises all cupola, crowned by an onion-shaped dome, from which spires an R.O. cross. The altar (east) extension and the vestibule are both foreshortened appendages covered by medium-angle gable roofs whose peaks touch the lower edge of the roof caves of the main section. At the west end, abutting the vestibule is a fully enclosed porch enclosed within the first level of a bell tower, from whose pyramidal roofed peak rises as an onion-shaped dome and then spires the high cross of the church. The entire appearance is one of mass. The simple detailing, however, coupled with small, economically severe, windows, suggests an almost Shaker design Influence. Again, this design modification may have resulted from interaction with new ideas of other religious groups active in Alaska.
Local significance of the building:
This 49-year-old church retains the basic three-element design, plus an almost independent bell tower, reminiscent of earlier R.O. village churches, but to that is added eclectic details of proportion that are significant to the genre. From west to east the three sain sections measure, longitudinally, 7'6", 34', and 12'. respectively, and, in width, 24', 28', and 24', respectively.
The larger than usual nave segment is also taller than usual, rising up high enough for a second story, but having Windows only at the ground level. It is capped by a low angle pyramidal roof, from the peak of which rises all cupola, crowned by an onion-shaped dome, from which spires an R.O. cross. The altar (east) extension and the vestibule are both foreshortened appendages covered by medium-angle gable roofs whose peaks touch the lower edge of the roof caves of the main section. At the west end, abutting the vestibule is a fully enclosed porch enclosed within the first level of a bell tower, from whose pyramidal roofed peak rises as an onion-shaped dome and then spires the high cross of the church. The entire appearance is one of mass. The simple detailing, however, coupled with small, economically severe, windows, suggests an almost Shaker design Influence. Again, this design modification may have resulted from interaction with new ideas of other religious groups active in Alaska.
Exploration/settlement; Architecture; Social History
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
About National Register Listings
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
During World War II, the Japanese invaded and occupied two islands in Alaska's Aleutian chain, Attu and Kiska. This was the only foreign occupation of American soil during the war.