Town of Friday Harbor San Juan County, Washington
Mapped Location
Town of Friday Harbor: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on Town of Friday Harbor
- Feature Type: Incorporated
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Town of Friday Harbor
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Town of Friday Harbor | Official |
| Friday Harbor | Official |
| Bellevue | Unofficial |
Origin Notes and History of Town of Friday Harbor
References to Town of Friday Harbor that document the origin of its place name
FRIDAY HARBOR, a town on San Juan Island, county seat of San Juan County. The Hudson's Bay Company had a station in that vicinity and employed as sheepherder an old Kanaka obtained by them from the Hawaiian Islands. An English boat came into the harbor and the captain sent some men to the old man's camp asking the name of the place. He did not know. They asked his own name and he said "Friday." The captain said: "We'll call this Friday Harbor," and subsequent efforts to change the name to "Bellevue" have failed. Charles McKay, an old pioneer, says the christening must have taken place seventy-five years ago. (Postmaster, in Names MSS., Letter 495.) The name appears on the British Admiralty Chart 2689, Richards, 1858-1859.
Related Catalog Titles
A Bibliography for Town of Friday Harbor, San Juan County, Washington
Friday Harbor by Mike Vouri , Julia Vouri , San Juan Historical Society
Friday Harbor, Washington was incorporated in 1909. As with many of the young state's small port towns, timber, salmon fishing, and farming fueled Friday Harbor's early economy. Life slowed and some left, but in being passed--until tourism caught on in the late 1970s--the town (and island) developed a unique sense of community that survives to this day
127 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm.
CIRC [ 1 ]
San Juan the powder-keg island : the settlers' own stories by Jo Bailey, Al Cummings , Beach Combers, Inc (Publisher)
This book tells the history of San Juan Island mostly through the diaries and letters of the original settlers plus newspaper accounts of various newsworthy events that happened on the island.
x, 194 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 22 cm
CIRC [ 1 ]
Friday Harbor, then and now by F. H. Van Cleve
Related Online Resources
Island Histories: Stories of the San Juans
San Juans Explorer is a digital guide to the history, natural history, and culture of the San Juan Islands. A project of the Public History Program at Eastern Washington University, the geolocated stories on San Juans Explorer were created by student
WEB LINK
San Juan County
- Argyle
- Beach Haven
- Buckhorn
- Camp Orkila
- Decatur
- Deer Harbor
- Doe Bay
- Dolphin
- Eastsound
- Town of Friday Harbor
- Islandale
- Lakedale
- Lopez
- Olga
- Orcas
- Port Stanley
- Prevost
- Richardson
- Roche Harbor
- Rosario
- Sea Acre
- Shaw Island
- Thatcher
- Waldron
- West Beach
- West Sound
- Yacht Haven
Political Boundaries
Last updated: 2025-09-23