Roche Harbor San Juan County, Washington
Mapped Location
Roche Harbor: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on Roche Harbor
- Feature Type: Place
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Roche Harbor
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Roche Harbor | Official |
Origin Notes and History of Roche Harbor
References to Roche Harbor that document the origin of its place name
ROCHE HARBOR, a town on the northern part of San Juan Island, in the northwestern part of San Juan County, named in 1858 in honor of Richard Roche. (British Admiralty Chart 2689, Richards, 1858-1859.) Roche was on this Northwest station as a Midshipman under Captain Henry Kellett in: H. M. S. Herald in 1846. He was under the same Captain in the Arctic Exploring Ship Resolute, 1852-1854, during which time he made 789 miles of sledge travel. He was on the Northwest station again in 1857-1860 as Third Lieutenant under Captain James C. Prevost of H.M.S. Satellite. It was during this time that the significant geographic honor was conferred upon him by Captain, afterwards Admiral Sir George Henry Richards, then in command of H. M. S. Plumper. (Captain John T. Walbran, British Columbia Coast Names, page 427.)
Related Catalog Titles
A Bibliography for Roche Harbor, San Juan County, Washington
Roche Harbor by Richard Walker
Working with Roche Harbor archivists as well as owners of private photo collections, Walker has selected more than 200 images and written text to illustrate the visual history of Roche Harbor and the people who have lived there
127 pages : chiefly illustrations ; 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 ]
A walking tour of historic Roche Harbor by Lynette Evans
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