Orcas Island, Washington has long been celebrated for its rare beauty and colorful history—but for many visitors and locals alike, the feeling that something strange lurks beneath the surface is all too real. Does Sasquatch really stalk the remote woods? Did pirates bury a fortune on Turtleback Mountain? Is there a portal to a hidden world in Mount Constitution, and an Atlantean energy vortex in East Sound? With scores of articles, first-hand accounts, and historical photographs, Unusual Orcas Island attempts to shed light on these legends, and to uncover others that have never been collected before.

Mount Constitution is a dramatic mountain crowning Orcas Island in the central Salish Sea. On the very tip of the mountain is a 60 foot Medieval stone tower. From its dramatic vantage point it looks south beyond Mount Rainer and the Olympic Peninsula, east to Mount Baker and the Cascades, west over Vancouver Island, and North beyond the city of Vancouver and the southern ranges of Canada. The tower was built in the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) when young men relocated to camps across the United States and built things. Many useful and many romantic ideals, often both. The CCC built a beautiful romantic tower in a stunning location on the top of a mountain on an Emerald Isle in the Salish Sea. That tower still stands proud today and hosts a million visitors a year. Some visit it regularly like a secular church. Rolf Eriksen has been intimately involved with Orcas Island, Mount Constitution and the CCC tower over many years since the 1950’s. He has rebuilt parts of it and surveys it with a loving eye every week. The tower and that mountain are a part of Rolf and he is a part of them. This book is Rolf ’s story of the tower and a scrapbook of collected images.

94 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 22 cm

This is about my father's mastery of everything that makes life worthwhile: ships, boats, airplanes, families, oceans, pets, and alcohol. Some of these he managed better than others. A master mariner whose unlimited licenses covered all oceans and any ship's tonnage, he learned to fly airplanes in order to land on docks next to his ship, tamed a kangaroo by playing the organ aboard his vessels, threw good parties and disastrous ones, sailed a 50-foot ketch from Fiji to Juneau, and made "good times" during most of his life, along with a notable failure. He was a Sunset Magazine Chef of the West. He also was a water witch, discovering that he could use dowsing sticks to discover water resources for his community on tiny Orcas Island, off the West Coast, where he treated his friends to cases of Scotch that he dumped overboard in the Strait of Georgia.

vi, 131 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Presents a selection of vintage images culled from the archives of the Orcas Island Historical Society and Museum and a short history of Orcas Island. Orcas Island, the largest of the 172 islands in San Juan County, lies in the Salish Sea north of Puget Sound

128 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.

Childhood memories of Orcas Island in the 1930's and 1940s. Published in local editions, James K. Long’s “Another Day in Paradise”: Island Memories from the Thirties and Forties captures the nostalgic, slower-paced rhythms of rural island life during an era defined by isolation and self-reliance. Drawing on personal reminiscences and local lore, the book details the distinct daily routines of farming, community gatherings, and maritime travel in the Pacific Northwest before the arrival of modern bridges and high-speed ferries. Through vivid anecdotal storytelling, the author preserves a vanishing world where neighbors depended entirely on one another to weather economic hardship and geographic seclusion. A keen insight drawn from the work is how the ironic title reframes historical isolation; by contrasting the physical hardships of Depression-era island existence with the deep sense of communal belonging it forged, the narrative reveals that true paradise on the frontier was never about untouched luxury, but rather the profound human connection born from shared vulnerability.

62 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.

Authored by longtime resident and community historian Margaret Philbrick, A Bit Off Center presents a personal, highly localized history of Orcas Island in Washington's San Juan archipelago. Drawing on vintage photographs, maps, and oral recollections, the book chronicles the development of local landmarks, marine transport, small cottage industries, and the eccentric characters who anchored early island life. Through intimate vignettes of community hubs like the Orcas Hotel and Grindstone Harbor, the text captures the peculiar charm and texture of self-reliant island living. A keen insight drawn from the work is how insular communities derive their unique resilience from eccentricity; by documenting the colorful, non-conformist personalities that populated the margins of society, the narrative reveals that living "off center" was not just a geographic descriptor, but a vital cultural ethos that allowed isolated pioneers to thrive.

97 pages : illustrations, maps ; 21 cm

Authored by Mike and Maxim Hurwicz, The Official Illustrated Orcas-American Dictionary and Phrase Book and Gazetteer presents a witty, satirical lexicon capturing the distinct cultural quirks, local geography, and insider vernacular of Orcas Island in Washington's San Juan archipelago. Through humorous definitions, phrase guides, and custom illustrations, the book lampoons the everyday realities of ferry schedules, rainwater catchment systems, and the peculiar friction between lifelong islanders and seasonal newcomers. The text uses self-deprecating humor to decode the unwritten social codes of a fiercely independent, geographically isolated community. A keen insight drawn from the work is how regional dialects and specialized humor serve as cultural gatekeeping tools in rapidly gentrifying rural areas; by codifying local jargon into a satirical dictionary, island residents establish a linguistic boundary that playfully rebuffs outsiders while reinforcing a shared, resilient identity.

17 pages : portrait

Authored by Irene Barfoot O'Neill, Olga 125 Years: Memories and Potlucks celebrates more than a century of community history in the historic waterfront settlement on Orcas Island, Washington. The book weaves together family recollections, archival records, and community traditions to trace how a pioneer farming and canning outpost evolved into a close-knit, enduring residential hamlet. Through these shared narratives and local recipes, the text highlights the social glue that has sustained generations of residents through changing economic tides. A keen insight drawn from the work is how communal food traditions and shared gatherings function as vital infrastructure in isolated island enclaves; by anchoring local history around the community potluck, the narrative reveals that shared meals served as the primary mechanism for bridging generational divides, welcoming newcomers, and preserving collective memory when formal institutions were scarce.

144 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm

149 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Platting of a 29.67 acre subdivision on Madrona Point, adjacent to the unincorporated town of Eastsound, into eleven single family lots (approx. 9 acres) five tracts for multi-family housing (approx. 3-1/2 acres) to contain 30 dwelling units in four- and five-unit buildings, and two larger tracts for future development subject to binding site plan approval (approx. 10-3/4 acres), intended for 61 multi-family dwellings in two- and four-unit buildings. In addition, four community recreation tracts will be established. On one of the community tracts a small caretaker's residence would be constructed, bringing the total of proposed residential units to 103.

241 pages : illustrations, maps ; 28 cm

48 pages : illustrations, maps ; 21 cm

23 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

xi, 96 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm