Blue Lake (Alaska)
reservoir east of the town of Sitka, Alaska, U.S.
Blue Lake (Tlingit: Gajook Héen Yik.áayi) is a 3 miles (4.8 km) long reservoir located 6 miles (9.7 km) east of the town of Sitka, on the west side of Baranof Island, in the Alexander Archipelago of Southeast Alaska.
Name and geology
The local descriptive name was reported in 1910 by Knopf (1912, fig 4), in United States Geological Survey.
Blue Lake, as its name suggests, possesses a deep blue hue to its water. Blue Lake's water sources are partially from snowpack and small glaciers from the glacially carved, U-shaped, Blue Lake valley in which it lies.
Dam
Blue lake was first dammed in 1913 by Sitka Wharf and Power Company. It sold its operation to the city in 1942. Floods damaged the infrastructure in 1943 and 1947.
Blue Lake was dammed again in 1958, greatly expanding the lake's size from 490 acres (2.0 km2) to 1,225 acres (5 km2) and increasing its height from 208 ft (63 m) to 342 ft (104 m). The dam is under construction as of 2024. It is being extended another 90 ft (27 m) feet higher.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Blue Lake (Alaska)” as reservoir east of the town of Sitka, Alaska, U.S. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as reservoir east of the town of Sitka, Alaska, U.S. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4929324. Authority coordinates are 57.073, -135.163. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1910, 1912, 1913 and 1942.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Blue Lake (Alaska)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Blue Lake (Alaska) primary sources, Blue Lake (Alaska) archive and Blue research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Blue Lake (Alaska)”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Blue Lake (Alaska)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.