Fort Durham Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Alaska Heritage Resources Survey
Location	Address restricted[2],Juneau City and Borough, Alaska, U.S.
Nearest city	Juneau, Alaska
Built	1840
Architect	James Douglas
NRHP reference No.	78000529[1]
AHRS No.	JUN-036
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	May 5, 1978
Designated NHL	June 2, 1978[3]

Fort Durham, also known asFort Taku,Taku,Taco, andTacouw, is anarchaeological site nearTaku Harbor, Alaska, within the limits ofJuneau City and Borough andTongass National Forest. It was one of threeHudson's Bay Company (HBC) posts set up inRussian America.^[4] TheFort Durham Site was declared a U.S.National Historic Landmark in 1978.^[3]

In 1834 the HBC tried to establish a post on theStikine River, British rights to which had been one of the terms of theRusso-British Treaty of 1825. However, the effort was blocked by employees of theRussian American Company (RAC), on the orders of GovernorFerdinand von Wrangel. Several years were spent by the HBC attempting to seek financial compensation from the RAC in response to be being blocked access from the Stikine River. Late in 1838 theImperial Russian Government ordered the RAC to settle their dispute with HBC, eventually leading to the signing of theRAC-HBC Agreement in early 1839. One of the main terms was a ten-year lease of what is today theAlaska Panhandle. The HBC was guaranteed the right to establish posts, hunt, and trade furs along the coast in exchange for furnishingRussian America with provisions and various food supplies.

Taking advantage of the agreement's terms immediately, the HBC sentJames Douglas north in theBeaver in 1840. Douglas explored theTaku River and built Fort Durham (or Taku) on the coast just south of the river's mouth. He also took possession ofRedoubt San Dionisio (Fort Saint Dionysius), which lay off the mouth of the Stikine River onEtolin Island, near today'sWrangell, Alaska (and renamed it Fort Stikine), which the Russians had agreed to transfer to the HBC under the 1839 lease agreement.^[5]

In 1841 the HBC governorGeorge Simpson ordered Fort Durham and other coastal posts closed, because theBeaver was able to conduct the coastal fur trade without the need for more than the single permanent post of Fort Simpson. The HBC closed operations at Fort Durham in 1843.^[6] The majority of the 8HawaiianKanakas employees at Fort Durham were reassigned toFort Victoria.^[7]

• Maritime Fur Trade
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Alaska
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Juneau, Alaska

• 1840 establishments in the British Empire
• Juneau, Alaska
• Colonial forts in Alaska
• Former populated places in Alaska
• Pre-Confederation British Columbia
• Hudson's Bay Company forts in the United States
• National Historic Landmarks in Alaska
• Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska
• National Register of Historic Places in Juneau, Alaska

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from July 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from January 2025