It is located just off the central west coast of Admiralty Island, south of the city of Angoon.

Whaling, a BIA school and a Russian Orthodox Church attracted many Tlingits to Killisnoo.

[1] In 1882, The first commercial herring fishery begins at Killisnoo; near Angoon and the first two canneries are built in Central Alaska.

[2] In 1886, Alaska Northwest Trading Company was built within the Tlingit Village on Killisnoo Island.

The site again was chosen due to the prosperous fishery and the calm inside passage of Chatham Strait.