Ukraina

The farm grew a colony before it grew a landmark. An 1894 article of Honcharenko's, claiming Cossacks had settled Alaska before any other Europeans, drew Ukrainian immigrants from Canada to this ridge, and from 1900 to 1902 a few families ran it as the Ukrainian Brotherhood. They never agreed whether they were a cooperative, a Cossack brotherhood or a commune, and it broke up. Myroslav Stechishin and Taras Ferley, drawn to North America by his ideas, became leaders of Ukrainian Canada. The bronze's orthodox priest had been excommunicated for heresy in the 1860s; he held services here anyway.

What the plaque says

Ukraina "Ukraina" is the site of the farm and burial place of the Ukrainian patriot and exile orthodox priest Agapius Honcharenko (1832-1916) and his wife Albina. Honcharenko was the first nationally conscious Ukrainian to arrive in the United States. He published the first American newspaper in Russian and Ukrainian languages, The Alaska Herald, from 1868-1872. He wrote the first book for the educational use of Native Alaskans. After moving here from San Francisco in 1873, he continued to publish political literature, which was smuggled into Czarist Russia. Honcharenko was a prominent scholar, humanitarian, and early champion for human rights. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 1025 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the East Bay Regional Park District and the Ukrainian Community of California, May 15, 1999.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Site of Nation's First Successful Beet Sugar Factory — 4.3 mi
• Vallejo Flour Mill — 4.8 mi
• First County Court House — 4.9 mi
• Francisco Solano Alviso Adobe — 5.5 mi