The history of Nakhodka…

On a cloudy day, having rounded a cape, a steam corvette “America” en­tered the waters of an unknown bay, which was later named in the ship’s honor, and anchored opposite the Sis­ter Mountain. The calendar marked June 17th, 1859.

The next day, a second lieuten­ant Krasilnikov made a written record: “At 6.00 a.m. (June 18th, 1859), we weighed anchor, proceeded to explore the shore and discovered a bay. By or­der of His Grace Earl Nikolay Nikolae­vich Muravyov-Amursky, the bay was named “Nakhodka”. The Captain of the first rank, Alexandr Arsentyevich Boltin, was the Commander of the steam cor­vette “America”. He made an enormous contribution to the discovery and explo­ration of the area. From July 5th, 1859 the names of the bay “Nakhodka” and the gulf “America” were mentioned on the sea maps. Subsequently, a military hydrographic station was established on the shore of the bay with one sergeant and four soldiers.

The beginning of the official settle­ment of Primorye can be dated back to the latter half of the nineteenth century. The railway construction and sea route discovery promoted inhabitation towards the Far East. The year 1907 arrived.

On the steamer “Oleg” 35 families from Chernigovskaya province arrived and set up a village “Amerikanka”. The residents of the village were primarily involved in personal farm holding. The only street Delovaya made its way down to the estuary of the Kamenka River, from where it changed into an unpaved road, that led to the Suchan coal mine. On its opposite side, the street bumped against a rock at the point where the Ad­ministration of Nakhodka Commercial Sea Port is presently located. The village of Amerikanka became a permanent settlement, eventually giving rise to the modern city of Nakhodka.

In the post war years, Nakhodka ex­perienced rapid construction. In 1950, under the Decree of the Presidium of the RSFSR Supreme Council dated May 18th, the working settlement “Na­khodka” was renamed into a city of re­gional subordination with a population of 28,000 people. During the first decade upon obtaining the status of a city, Na­khodka developed its primary economic potential and mapped out its future en­terprises. Gradually, Nakhodka became an international business center in the Far East.

In 1962, the first international pas­senger route Nakhodka - Yokohama was launched.

Once it developed into a large inter­national port, in June 1961, Nakhodka became the first city in the USSR that entered into an agreement on twinning with the Japanese city of Maizuru. To­day, sister city and friendly relations bind Nakhodka with Maizuru, Otaru, Tsuruga (Japan), Oakland, Bellingham (The USA), Jilin (China), Donghae (The Republic of Korea), Rason (North Korea) and the Province of Phuket (Thailand).

At present, Nakhodka is the second largest city of Primorye. More than 5 000 small, medium and large businesses operate in Nakhodka.