Baranov Museum - Kodiak, Alaska

Welcome to the Baranov Museum

Baranov Museum

At the Baranov Museum you can discover the history of Kodiak, Alaska through a variety of permanent and temporary exhibits, educational programs, and special events.

Explore Kodiak's rich history, from Alutiiq culture and the Russian colonial period to the early American era, WWII and the present day. The Baranov Museum is located within Kodiak's 200-year-old National Historic Landmark building known as the Russian American Magazin, or the Erskine House.

Hours & Admission

Summer hours:
10 - 4pm Monday - Saturday;

Winter hours:
10 - 3pm Tuesday - Sat.
Special Opening on request

Admission: $5.00 for adults,
children 12 & under are FREE

May Events at the Baranov Museum

Are you looking for something to fill these long spring days? Come down to the Baranov Museum for fun and educational crafts, programs and lectures!

Exhibit Design & Development Community Meeting
Wednesday, May 15th, 6pm
Do you have a story to tell about Kodiak's history? Is there a museum's exhibit that you love? Let your stories and ideas guide our new exhibit design!
The Baranov Museum is engaged in a year-long design and development process for new permanent exhibits and we want your feedback and participation.
Join museum staff and exhibit designer Sarah Asper-Smith to view the most recent design docuements and tell us your ideas for the exhibits.

Family Day At the Museum: Faces of our Community
Sauturday, May 18th, 10am to 3pm
This month we'll be exploring faces of our community.... We'll have real characters from Kodiak's past for you to meet in picture puzzles and biographical blurbs. Kids will get an opportunity to have their photo taken as their favorite character! Take home an art activity, "when I'm 100", where you'll talk about what you imagine life will be like in the future & create a cute 100 year old portrait of yourself. It'll be some great community fun!!
All activties are free with admission and admission is always free to our members!

Exhibit Opening -- Found On Site: Objects from within the Magazin
Friday, May 23rd, 10am
Free Admission: Sunday, May 26th, 12pm to 4pm
Pick up a floorboard, discover a locket. Restore a window, find a doll dress. You never know what surprising objects are hidden within the Baranov Museum, the old Russian American Magazin. This exhibit highlights objects found within the building or unearthed from the ground around it. It also includes objects that belonged to people that lived or worked in the building.

Like an old scrapbook, what you find within the magazin is often unexpected. This collection of found objects, images, and stories helps us to discover 200 years of Kodiak history: history all found within the magazin.

Kodiak Russian Balalaika Players

Sunday, May 26th, 1pm
A lively performance of authentic Russian folk music with guitars, violins, violas, flutes, accordions and, of course, balalaikas. Sponsored by the Kodiak Historical Society and Kodiak Russian Balalaika Players. Enjoy refreshments & free admission to the museum! For more info, call 486-5920

Fridays, 12pm
Alutiiq Language Lunch
Join a group of Alutiiq language speakers and learners every Friday at the Baranov Museum. Have fun speaking Alutiiq using "Where Are Your Keys?" game-like methods. All levels of learners and speakers are welcome to attend. No invitation or experience is needed to participate in these free gatherings every Friday at noon. Just bring your lunch and your curiosity!

April Programs and Events at the Baranov Museum

The crocuses are up in the yard and it's beginning to feel like spring! Are you looking for something to fill these long spring days? Come down to the Baranov Museum for fun and educational crafts, programs and lectures!

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Saturday April 13th, 11am to 3pm
Block Printing Workshop
Learn how to make beautiful block prints. All supplies are provided and participants will make ten cards and a reusable block print. There is a workshop fee of $25 and space is limited, so please register soon. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 486-5920 to register or for more information.

Wednesday April 17th, 7pm
Community Conversation: Gardening in Kodiak
Learn about the history of gardening at the Baranov Museum and join a discussion of the current challenges and joys of gardening in Kodiak. Invited speakers Pat Holmes, Marion Owen and Tina Minyard will talk about their gardening experience. Baranov Museum director Tiffany Brunson will give a brief presentation on the former gardens of the Baranov Museum. Your experiences in gardening in Kodiak would be a welcome addition to this conversation.

Saturday, April 20th, 10am to 3pm
Family Dayat the Museum: Whales! A Celebration
Join us at the Baranov Museum for kids crafts and activities to celebrate whales in Kodiak as part of the 2013 Kodiak Whalefest. Grab a pole & go "fishing" with the little ones... you might just catch a whale! Craft & etch your own scrimshaw creation. Make a spouting whale paper craft to take home & check out the Port Hobron Whaling Exhibit.
All activties are free with admission and admission is always free to our members!

Friday, April 26th, 7pm
Whaling the Kodiak Grounds
A research lecture by Anjuli Grantham, Curator of Collections
Learn about the history of whales and whaling in Kodiak and the importance of the whale to the people of Kodiak, form the Alutiit to Americans. Enjoy free admission and refreshments.

Fridays, 12pm
Alutiiq Language Lunch
Join a group of Alutiiq language speakers and learners every Friday at the Baranov Museum. Have fun speaking Alutiiq using "Where Are Your Keys?" game-like methods. All levels of learners and speakers are welcome to attend. No invitation or experience is needed to participate in these free gatherings every Friday at noon. Just bring your lunch and your curiosity!

Film Intensive: Waves of Change: 1964 Earthquake and Tsunami in the Kodiak Archipelago

Stories of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake and tsunami are inscribed in the collective memory of the Kodiak region. The event permanently changed the Kodiak archipelago and its effects are still visible today.
However, most of that which is remembered are stories of the actual disaster and not the aftermath, rebuilding and lasting changes.

The Baranov Museum is partnering with Media Action, the Kodiak Island borough School District and the ENLIVEN program to offer a free 2-week history and film-making course for Kodiak middle school and high school students, June 3rd - June 14th. Students will research the under-documented stories that relate to the disaster and create documentary films on their topics. They will conduct interviews with elders, scientists and politicians, engage in archival and secondary source research and shoot and edit their own films.

This rigorous 2-week course will give students the opportunity to research and create documentary fi lms, earning a KHS history credit upon successful completion. Due to course demands, students with no other scheduling conflicts will have priority to participate.

This intensive is open to student around the archipelago. Students in village school will participate through video teleconference and are encouraged to apply.

To apply, stop by the Baranov Museum at 101 Marine Way, call us at (907) 486-5920 or email Sarah Short at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

We still have space in the intesive and will be accepting students until those are filled.