Horse-drawn wagon and driver for Zarembo Mineral Springs Co, Seattle, ca 1906 (MOHAI 7572)

Zarembo Island is an island in the

Alexander Archipelago The Alexander Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Александра) is a long archipelago (group of islands) in North America lying off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, the tops of submerged coastal m ...

of southeastern

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It lies directly south of

Mitkof Island Mitkof Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeast Alaska between Kupreanof Island to the west and the Alaskan mainland to the east. It is approximately wide and long with a land area of , making it the 30th largest island i ...

and northwest of

Etolin Island Etolin Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, United States at . It is between Prince of Wales Island, to its west, and the Alaska mainland, to its east. It is southwest of Wrangell Island. It was first charte ...

. To the northwest is

Kupreanof Island Kupreanof Island (russian: Остров Купреянова) is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska. The island is long and wide with a total land area is , making it the 13th largest island in the United States and t ...

and to the southwest is Prince of Wales Island. It has a land area of , making it the 34th largest island in the United States. It has no permanent resident population. It was first charted in 1793 by James Johnstone, one of

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...

's officers during his 1791-95 expedition. He only charted its north, west, and south coasts, not realizing it was an island. The island is named after

Dionysius Zarembo The name Dionysius (; el, Διονύσιος ''Dionysios'', "of Dionysus"; la, Dionysius) was common in classical and post-classical times. Etymologically it is a nominalized adjective formed with a -ios suffix from the stem Dionys- of the name ...

, a Polish employee of 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� ...

and explorer of Alaska. Usually known as Dionysius Zarembo, he was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the Russian-American Company ship ''Chichagof'' during the foundation of the

Redoubt San Dionisio A redoubt (historically redout) is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, although some are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect sold ...

, named for his name-saint, a fortification at present-day Wrangell which was established to forestall encroachment on the Stikine region by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

. Zarembo Island mineral springs was bottled from the late 1890s to the early 1910s by a bottling company in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington. Zarembo mineral water won a gold medal at the 1904 Lewis & Clark Centennial and had a major display at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.

References

Zarembo Island: Block 1037, Census Tract 3, Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area, Alaska
United States Census Bureau

* Islands of the Alexander Archipelago Polish-American history Islands of Wrangell, Alaska Islands of Alaska {{WrangellAK-geo-stub