Brown's Island, more commonly known as Friday Island, forms the main protection for Friday Harbor. All the marine traffic going to Friday Harbor must come around this island. Therefore, in the summer it is the most active spot in the entire archipelago.
Brown's Island has community docks on the island and over in Friday Harbor. There is also a water taxi that runs back and forth.
This was the first development in the San Juan Islands to have extensive self-imposed environmental restrictions, thanks to Sam Buck and his partners in the development. There are only waterfront homes and lots here. Cars are not allowed.
During Prohibition, several wagonloads of illegal hooch were seized from Brown's Island and placed for safe keeping in the county jail in Friday Harbor. Six cases were subsequently stolen from the jail likely one of the few recorded instances of someone breaking into a jail. To learn more about this and other historical tidbits briefly described in this publication, read the Pig War Islands by Richardson.
Blakely Island is the namesake of Johnston Blakely, a U.S. naval commander in the War of 1812. It is also known as the Flying Island, because many of its residents are pilots with homes adjacent to the airport. They taxi right up their driveways and park. Blakely covers seven square miles. It has forested slopes, two good sized lakes, a 100' high waterfall, deep shores and a few beaches. There is a small marina with fuel and temporary moorage. There is also a private airport and roads, but only for the use of owners and guests.
Several islands around Blakely are part of the San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge. About 1/4th of Blakely was donated to Seattle Pacific University to be used in its natural state for biological and environmental research and education.
Blakely's first permanent settler, E.C. Gillette, was also Justice of the Peace during the Pig War era (1860), San Juan's first surveyor and pioneer of San Juan's lime industry. He sold out in 1889 to Richard Straub, who subsequently was convicted of a gruesome murder scheme over a dispute with some neighbors.
Center Island is a 178-acre private island a short distance from Anacortes, nestled between Decatur and Lopez Islands. It enjoys sheltered waters for moorage and mild temperatures. There are mostly summer vacation homes here, however a small number of residents live on Center year round, including full time caretakers. Facilities include a new clubhouse, community picnic areas, a community dock and a place to pull small boats out of the water and put them on land. There is daily mail service and a private 1600' airstrip.
Crane Island, with 222 acres, is the largest and most developed of the Wasp Islands group, lying between Orcas and Shaw Islands. It is one of the more easily accessible islands being very near to Orcas Island within relatively protected waters.
It has community docks on both Crane and Orcas and a private airstrip.
By some resources, Cypress Island is actually the fourth largest island in the San Juan Islands and is one of the San Juan Islands not in San Juan County. (It's part of Skagit County.) This four and one half mile long island is mostly public land managed by the Washington Department of Natural Resources. It has tall stands of old growth forest, (there is relatively little old growth left in the islands), 25 miles of hiking trails, campsites, beaches, mooring buoys, outhouses, small lakes, wildlife, rugged scenery and beautiful views. There's no drinking water though.
There are no cypress trees on this island. In 1792, William Broughton, a lieutenant for Captain George Vancouver during his discovery of the islands, named it Cypress after trees on the island that looked like cypress to him, but they are actually Rocky Mountain junipers.
Broughton, unaccustomed to maneuvering a ship with the local challenge of winds, tides, rocks and reefs all at the same time, lost an anchor off of Cypress that even after great effort, he could not pull free. It is supposedly still there.
Coastal Salish tribes lived here during the summers long ago and many archaeological sites have been identified.
Decatur Island is named after Stephen Decatur, a famous U.S. naval officer during the war of 1812. He was killed in a duel with a fellow captain at age 40.
60 or so people live on Decatur Island year ‘round and many more seasonally.
The island has a small store (with B&B above), post office, grade school, boat launch, airport and small shipyard. There are miles of scenic county roads open to the public, however the lands are all private and beaches are not easily accessed. There are various good spots for anchorage around the island.
Decatur Head is on the east side of the island. It was once a separate little island, but the action of wind and waves over centuries of time built up the sand neck so that it now joins into Decatur Island. That geological formation is called a tombolo.
There is the awful and unfortunate story of a shooting involving a man known as John Kay, who squatted at Davis Bay. His old cottage later became part of the Frank Henderson summer camp for boys and the tale of the shooting has been told around many a beach campfire. The old Kay cabin is still livable and used to house the Henderson camp's caretaker.
Frost Island lies beside Spencer Spit State Park. Its uplands are all privately owned and there are a small number of private residences.
Henry Island is named after its pioneer settler, Henry Perkins. It is shaped like an H and located just west of Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, protecting several bays in that general area. There is good fishing and whale watching off its south and west shores. Its land parcels are privately owned, other than approximately 80 acres on the southwest side that are for a lighthouse reservation. However the shoreline at the lighthouse is steep and rocky, making landings hazardous.
Almost like a piece of a puzzle, 132-acre Johns Island lies immediately east of Stuart Island. It is a little more than a mile long and has a mixture of rocky bluffs and pristine beaches. The land is privately held and there are no public facilities.
217-acre Obstruction Island is located between Orcas and Blakely Islands. It too is a privately held island with a mixture of rocky shores and pebble beaches. There are a small number of residences and no public access.
Pearl Island is located just off the shores of San Juan Island at the outskirts of Roche Harbor. It helps protect Roche Harbor from northerly winds. It is small and flat with all waterfront parcels. One side faces south overseeing the activity of Roche Harbor, the other faces north with broad views of the outer islands.
There's a wonderful little story about a bride to be, (Mary Smith), who waited on Pearl Island while her husband to be, (Ed Chevalier), walked the nine mile wooded trail to Friday Harbor in order to get a minister to marry them.
Sinclair Island was named by the Wilkes Expedition of 1841 for Arthur Sinclair, a U.S. naval captain during the war of 1812. This mostly private island is just north of Cypress Island on the outer edge of the San Juan Islands. Like Cypress Island, Sinclair is part of the San Juan Islands, but not in San Juan County. There is a county dock on the southwest end of Sinclair along with a small village called "Urban". There are dirt roads and on one of them, two thirds of a mile from Urban, is the Sinclair Island Natural Wildlife Area, encompassing 35 acres with beachfront. Combining the beachfront with interior roads, you can spend quiet hours walking within public lands.
A large portion of Sinclair was once owned by a man and wife with the last name of Kelly. (He actually kept the property in his wife's name for devious purposes). Kelly was a notorious smuggler of various interests including Chinese people and opium. His property on the northwest shore allowed him expansive views helping him keep an eye on customs vessels.
Stuart Island has a population of about 40 people residing there year round and many more during the summer months. It rests up along the Canadian border, near the Gulf Islands, 3.5 miles north of Roche Harbor on San Juan Island. It encompasses 1,786 acres and has shorelines that range from steep rock faces to protected coves with beach. It also has a private airport.
Stuart has perhaps the most interesting school in the State, including a classic one-room school house built in 1902 that is now used as the library for the more recently constructed one room school house adjacent to it. It is one of the last American schools without electricity or flush toilets. In the old days, children from nearby islands would row over to Stuart and then hike over to the school.
Stuart Island Marine State Park, off the southeast side, encompasses 88 acres including over 4,000 feet of waterfront within Reid and Prevost Harbors. Those harbors often provide shelter for boats coming from and going to Canada. There are state park docks, mooring buoys, basic campsites and picnic areas, but no other facilities.
There is much history to be learned about Stuart Island. It also has a historic cemetery and a lighthouse. Current residents of San Juan Island, who still commercially fish today, are descendants of local Indian tribes that used to reef-net off of Reid Harbor many generations ago.
Waldron Island is an island with a mixture of beautiful long beaches, high cliffs and rocky medium banked shoreline, depending on which side of the island you're on. There is also a mixture of personalities from those who want complete privacy to those who welcome visitors. It is a very self-sufficient island and has no community water, electricity or land line phone, as is true with most outer islands. The fact is, most outer islanders prefer it this way and once you have experienced it, you can understand why.
Waldron is near the west side of Orcas Island and there are close to 100 year round residents. Public access is very limited. This island has no stores or facilities other than a county dock with a few abandoned buildings nearby. There are county roads, but most of the land is private. It has a small post office, grade school, cemetery and landing strip. Waldron was named after two members of the 1841 Wilkes Expedition.
A 478-acre nature preserve with 4,000 feet of shoreline is located here. It was fostered by Waldron residents who wanted to preserve it in its natural state and is now managed by the Nature Conservancy and the San Juan Preservation Trust.
