The Russian Bishop's House is one of the surviving structures using Russian Colonial Architecture in North America today. For more than 125 years, Imperial Russia took over the North Pacific. Sitka, which carried the name New Archangel during the period, was the colonial capital of Russia.

In 1842, the construction of the Bishop's house was completed. The house became the central point of Russian Orthodox Church Authority in a diocese covering California, Siberian, and Kamchatka.

In 1969, the Bishop's House was closed by the Russian Orthdox Church. The lack of maintenance resulted to rotting walls, leaking roofs, and tilting floors. The house was on the verge of collapsing.

The National Park Service acquired the property in 1973. A 16-year restoration project aiming to bring back the 1853 glory of the house began.

Now, the restored Bishop's House gives visitors the chance to be see the house and be enlightened on the period when the house served its original purpose.