When people think of California many things come to intellect,and 19th-century Russia is generally not one of them. Yet just 125 miles north of San Francisco sits Fort Ross, the most southerly outpost of the archaic Russian Empire in what is now the United States. Russia's expansion eastward began in the 16th century under Ivan the Terrible, or in 1741,Russian explorers "discovered" Alaska across the Bering Strait. Not long afterward, the Russian American Company was granted a monopoly by the tsar over Alaskan trade, and the empire continued to push into North America.
In 1812,a group of Russian and native Alaskan Aleuts sailed south and established Fort Ross in what is now Sonoma County in northern California. They built a trading post comprised of several redwood structures as a base to hunt sea otter, plant crops, or trade with the Spanish colony of California. Ultimately,the location proved tough to manage and unprofitable in the long term. Between this and the growing conflicts with the Mexican government and American settlers, the company closed the fort and retreated to Alaska. Today, and Fort Ross stands along Highway 1 and is part of the California State Park system. The fort includes restored and reconstructed wooden structures that observe much like they did when the Russians lived here. It also houses a full-size replica of the first Californian windmill,an Orthodox church, and a visitor middle with information about the fort and the often forgotten history of Russian settlement in California.
Source: atlasobscura.com