San Juan Islands Feature


Mapped Location

San Juan Islands: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

 

Information

General information on San Juan Islands

  • Feature Type: Feature

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for San Juan Islands

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name Description
San Juan Islands Official

 

Origin Notes and History of San Juan Islands

References to San Juan Islands that document the origin of its place name

Title Cover Image: Origin of Washington geographic names

SAN JUAN COUNTY, named for one of the largest islands in Washington Sound, which should be known as San Juan Archipelago. Following the boundary treaty of 1846, a dispute arose between the British and American Governments for the possession of this group of islands, which dispute was settled by Emperor William I., of Germany, as arbitrator on October 21, 1872. On receiving information of that award the Territorial Legislature of Washington organized the archipelago into San Juan County on October 31, 1873.

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names

 

Related Catalog Titles

A Bibliography for San Juan Islands, Feature

Voices from the islands true stories about Washington State's fabulous San Juan Islands and those who inhabit them by Gordon Keith

'Voices from the Islands' is must reading for anyone who has ever secretly or openly expressed a desire to live on a small island accessible only by boat or plane. In this potpourri of island stories, articles and interviews with old-timers as well as new-comers, you will meet such diverse individuals as Little Wolf, the Stuart Island Indian who was ‘raised with the wolves’; and a cartoonist who moved to an island to retire, but is presently syndicating his own cartoons nationally. You’ll meet an old-time individualist named Roger Purdue, who refused to let Orcas Island’s volunteer Fire Fighters on the roof of his house when the chimney burst into flames, because he didn’t want them walking around on his roof. There is also an interview with a former Hollywood script writer who gave up his lucrative assignments and moved to an island to live closer to nature. On the lighter side, there is an account of some Islanders who dumped an entire shipment of Seattle Post Intelligencers into the bay because of an article calling their town ‘the armpit of the San Juans.’ And, you’ll enjoy reading about the residents of a small island community who got their dander up when a 42-foot, state-owned cabin cruiser went aground and was left with no one aboard. Outraged at what seemed sheer negligence by the state, several islanders towed the vessel to the Olga dock, intending to hold it for salvage. “How to Win a Political Campaign with the Help of Your Opponent” is a humorous incident from Henry Jackson’s early days as an aspiring senator. Besides the thirty-three articles and interviews - illustrated by more than fifty photographs—-the author tells why he moved to the San Juans and why it took him and his family seven years, after they had purchased their Orcas Island home, before they could move into it. Whether you read Voices from the Islands for an intimate look at island life, or just to while away a few pleasant hours, you will find your time well spent.

xvii, 278 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

CIRC [ 1 ]

 


It came to pass in the San Juan Islands by Roderic Marble Olzendam, Gordon Keith

ix, 139 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

CIRC [ 1 ]

 


San Juan County, Washington, inventory of natural areas on private lands by Nature Conservancy (U.S.)., San Juan County (Wash). Planning Department

128, [54] pages : illustrations ; 28 cm

CIRC [ 1 ]

 


Living high by June Burn

By June BurnCourage, gaiety, and a fresh approach to live are reflected in this "unconventional autobiography." It is a story of a twentieth-century pioneers as resourceful as ever they were in the days of the old frontier. June Burn and her husband Farrar determined to go their own sweet way, enjoying "first hand living" and not surrounding to the routines of a workday world. Through the years they had some high and glorious adventures, which included homesteading a "gumdrop" in the San Juan Islands, of the Pacific Northwest, teaching Eskimos near Siberia, and exploring the United States by donkey cart with a baby aboard. - Living High, 1958 edition book jacket

292 pages ; 23 cm

CIRC [ 1 ]

 


San Juan Islands, the Cronstadt of the Pacific by Archie W. Shiels

275 p. : incl. front. (map) 24 cm.

CIRC [ 1 ]

 


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

 

Last updated: 2017-06-29