Ivan Antonovich Kupreyanov was the head of the Russian-American Company in Alaska from 1835 to 1840. He built the famous residence, library and museum in Sitka called "Baranof's Castle" by early American settlers, who assumed that it had been built by Alexandr Baranov, Kupreianov's predecessor by 18 years. The residence was the site of the ceremony in which control of Alaska was transferred from Russia to the United States in 1867. Although the residence fell down in 1897, the hill where is was located is still called Castle Hill. Kupreianov and his wife, Julia Ivanovna, began a school for native girls in Sitka. It was closed at the end of his administration but was reopened later.
