The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2013
From the blues to the big top, we’ve picked the most intriguing small towns to enjoy arts and smarts
- By Susan Spano
- Smithsonian magazine, April 2013
(Mark Kelley)
On an island in the Alexander Archipelago with roads that give up when they meet forests of massive hemlock and spruce, Sitka is cupped in a bay and protected from the cold, forbidding Gulf of Alaska by rocky green islets. It’s this stunning frame that strikes visitors first, inspiring amateurs off Inside Passage cruise ships as well as professional photographers to remove their lens covers.
There are photo ops galore at Sitka National Historical Park, site of the last major battle between Europeans and Native Americans on the Pacific Coast. The park’s Totem Trail presents a haunting collection of Native American woodcarving art. “Sitka is the most historic community in Alaska, but for me it’s the thousands of years of occupation by the Tlingit people that add depth of culture,” said Teri Rofkar, a Native American weaving artist and Sitka resident.
The woodcarving comes as a revelation, compelling visitors to see it less as artifact and more as art. The same goes for the miraculous Tlingit spruce root baskets, potlatch hats and Raven rattles displayed at the Sheldon Jackson Museum on the campus of a small Presbyterian college, where James Michener lived while writing his epic novel Alaska.
The Sitka Historical Society and Museum boasts 25,000 vintage photographs portraying local ceremony and society. It shares waterfront Harrigan Centennial Hall with a performing arts center, headquarters for the Sitka Summer Music Festival and Russian New Archangel Dancers. The celebrated Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi native dance company performs in the Tlingit Community House.
No other town in the 49th state has Sitka’s charisma. To wander through its historic downtown is to appreciate how three cultures—Tlingit, Russian and American—were woven together. Built partly on bayfront pilings, the landmark Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall houses the first chapter of an organization founded in 1912 to fight discrimination against the state’s first people. The Lutheran Church, built in 1840 for Swedish and Finnish members of the Russian American Company, and onion-domed St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral, with its nearby Russian Bishop’s House, are reminders of Eastern influence.
Above all looms 3,200-foot Mount Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano said to have attracted the Tlingit people to Sitka even before its last eruption around 2200 B.C. It looked about to explode again in 1974 when local prankster Porky Bickar set fire to 100 spare tires dropped by chopper in the mouth of the volcano—the whimsical side of Sitka’s character.
Comments (76)
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I couldn't agree more with your decision to put Petoskey on the list of summer "go to" places. I started vacationing there in 1988. I rented a place in Bay View for twelve years and knew it was where I wanted (and needed) to spend my summers! My husband surprised me by putting in an offer on a cottage in Bay View in 1999. The rest is history.... I will be packing my bags next week for my annual pilgrimage north! Thanks for recognizing the beauty of northern Michigan. Jane Austin
Posted by Jane Austin on May 10,2013 | 12:52 PM
Thank you for that great recognition. My book won the 2011 State History Award "Bay View, an American Idea" covers the close relationship of Bay View and the Hemingway family. Hemingway's mother a fine singer was deeply involved in the women's movement in Chicago and many of the women spoke in Bay View. His sisters both fine musicians performed on the Bay View stage - one a harpist and the other a violist. His aunt was a nationally known children's story tell who taught in Bay View.His brother in law was the grand nephew of John M.Hall the creator of the Bay View Assembly reading circle and magazine. Sterling met Marcelline in Bay View while she was staying at the home of Trumbull White. The family were close friends of Bay View assembly director Trumbull White who was a nationally known editor, writer, and war correspondent. Hemingway saught advice from him as a writer and the first thing Hemingway did was to take off to war.
Posted by Mary Jane Doerr on May 10,2013 | 09:17 AM
I agree. Fairfield, Ia is a most unique city. Surely a farm town but with an amazing quality of life not to be found elsewhere. J Las Vegas, Nv
Posted by Janice W on May 2,2013 | 05:43 PM
Fairfield is not only #7 small town to visit, it is one of the very best to live in. Homes are a bargain from 3 bedrooms under $100,000 to a 15 acre 8000 sq.. feet home with lake and barn for horses for under $600,000. Most everything seems unbelievably inexpensive.
Posted by Chet Swanson on April 22,2013 | 10:15 PM
Naples, Fl was on thr 2012 list and should have made this one. Great West Coast of Florida town for class, art, shopping, boating, beaches, golf,tennis, 3rd street, 5th ave, great dining, etc. Not just a place for winter snow-birds. Been everywhere and this is where I picked for home-sweet-home. Some may think a little high toned and up-erty? Well thats all great with us!!
Posted by Andy on April 19,2013 | 09:34 PM
Wyoming has many great small towns !!
Posted by Mary Link on April 18,2013 | 03:06 PM
MOST ANNOYING HAVING TO CLICK THRU ALL JUST TO SEE IF A CERTAIN TOWN WAS ON THE LIST. I FINALLY QUIT AT #5.
Posted by LARRY NELSON on April 12,2013 | 12:28 AM
Why not do something a little closer to home you know like Manassas/Bullrun or Lexington
Posted by Joey on April 11,2013 | 09:40 PM
Great article! Author Susan Spano is a college classmate, her travel stories are always interesting!
Posted by Eileen Murray on April 10,2013 | 07:11 PM
I, for one, didn't need confirmation of something I already knew: that Gettysburg is the best small town travel site in America. (But I'm glad it has been recognized in the Smithsonian Mag as well.) Gettysburg has something for everyone and I feel it's safe to say I can't think of anyone I know that would not enjoy a trip there. I love it there so much that I've seriously thought of packing up and moving to the area - leaving friends and family behind.
Posted by Chris Shelton on April 10,2013 | 03:44 PM
How I can get a tour?
Posted by methu on April 10,2013 | 02:20 PM
We love Gettysburg! So happy that the Smithsonian acknowleged this great town. Just a tip - Hauser Estate Winery, is our favorite.
Posted by Abby White on April 9,2013 | 12:43 PM
I grew up in cleveland and was elated to see the article
Posted by Gayle O'Quinn on April 7,2013 | 02:05 PM
unnecessarily unwieldy to look through cool idea, horrible format. UP YO GAME SMITHSONIAN
Posted by dpl on April 4,2013 | 09:35 PM
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