Fort Ross State Historic Park is a historical

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

Sonoma County Sonoma County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, including the former

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most ...

outpost of

Fort Ross Fort Ross ( Russian: Форт-Росс, Kashaya ''mé·ṭiʔni''), originally Fortress Ross ( pre-reformed Russian: Крѣпость Россъ, tr. ''Krepostʹ Ross''), is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America i ...

plus the adjacent coastline and native

coast redwood ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...

forests extending inland. Fort Ross, active from 1812 to 1842, was the southernmost settlement in the

Russian colonization of the Americas The Russian colonization of North America covers the period from 1732 to 1867, when the Russian Empire laid claim to northern Pacific Coast territories in the Americas. Russian colonial possessions in the Americas are collectively known as Russi ...

. The park was established in 1909. The site is a

Sonoma County Historic Landmark This is a list of Sonoma County Landmarks as designated by the Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County's Landmark Commission. It is intended to include all Sonoma County government-designated landmarks in unincorporated areas of Sonoma County, but ...

Fort Ross

Fort Ross was founded by the

Russian-American Company The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty (russian: Под высочайшим Его Императорского Величества покровительством Российская-Американс� ...

in 1812. Most of the Fort's buildings are reproductions. The one original structure remaining from the Russian settlement, the commander's house, is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

and on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The California Department of Parks and Recreation as well as many volunteers put extensive efforts into restoration and reconstruction work in the Fort.

Name

The name Ross is a poetic name for 'Russian.' It was selected from lots placed at the base of an image of Christ bestowed on the settlement when it was dedicated on September 11, 1812. The Spanish sometimes called it Presidio Ruso or Presidio de Bodega.

Park access and closures

In 2009 the park was under the risk of being closed due to state budget cuts. Russian ambassador

Sergey Kislyak Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak ( rus, Серге́й Ива́нович Кисля́к, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ kʲɪˈslʲak; born 7 September 1950) is a Russian senior diplomat and politician. Since September 2017, he has represented Mo ...

petitioned in favor of the park, but Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

promised nothing. On June 22, 2010, a memorandum of understanding between the Renova Group of Companies and the State of California, and between Renova Group and Fort Ross Conservancy (then the Fort Ross Interpretive Association) was signed in San Francisco in the presence of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n President

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...

"to affirm a partnership to support and promote the preservation of California's Fort Ross State Historic Park, and to raise awareness of its historical and cultural significance." The threatened park closures were ultimately avoided by cutting hours and maintenance system-wide.

References

External links

Fort Ross State Historic Park

Fort Ross State Historic Park

Fort Ross Conservancy

Commander's House, Fort Ross
National Historic Landmark listing {{Authority control California State Historic Parks History museums in California Museums in Sonoma County, California National Historic Landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area Open-air museums in California Parks in Sonoma County, California Protected areas established in 1909 Tourist attractions in Sonoma County, California 1909 establishments in California National Register of Historic Places in Sonoma County, California

Fort Ross

Name

Park access and closures

See also

References

External links