Woody Island is located in Chiniak Bay, 2.6 miles (4.2 km) east of Kodiak, Alaska. It was originally settled by the native Alutiiq people who called themselves Tangirnarmiut, "the people of Tangirnaq." They inhabited and used Woody Island for thousands of years. The Russians established an agricultural colony on Woody Island in 1792. It was officially designated Wood Island in 1894 by the US Post Office and was the primary coastal settlement for commerce and trade for many years. The first road in Alaska was built on Woody Island. Aside from the Aleut presence, the island has gone through four periods of occupation by non-natives, and is largely unoccupied today. The island is approximately 2.8 miles long from north to south and 1.8 miles wide and 13 miles in circumference.