Seal Island Historic District

The Seal Islands possess outstanding historical significance to the themes of industry, conservation, and ethnic heritage. 1786-1959, the period of significance, encompasses a consistent pattern of development, administration, and concerns in the industry from discovery to Alaska statehood.

Discovered in the 1780s as the home of the world's largest single herd of mammals, the northern fur seal, the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, the Seal Islands, remain the primary site of the world's fur seal industry. This industry generated conflict between nations and peoples for the last two hundred years and dominated the islands from discovery in 1786 until Alaska's statehood in 1959. The islands were the major focus of international conservation policymaking in its infancy late in the nineteenth century. The North Pacific Sealing Convention of 1911 was a pioneering effort involving many years and four great powers: the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia. Compared to the other international conservation treaties of the period, for example, the Niagara Falls treaty, the Sealing Convention was the most significant agreement of its time. The controversy continues with the present turmoil surrounding the expiration without renewal of the Northern Fur Seal Convention. The site is associated as well with a unique chapter in the history of the Aleut people, the homogeneous permanent population of the islands, and the labor force of the fur seal industry from its inception to its recent demise as a commercial enterprise. Because the site is remote, the environment harsh, and the sealing industry, with all its conflicts is still a pervasive presence, there is a unique sense of historical cohesiveness on Saint Paul and Saint George Islands.