Waldron Island

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At 4.59 miles square, Waldon Island is not the smallest island in the San Juans, but it may be the most private and that is exactly how the hundred or so residents like it. There is no public ferry to Waldron Island; one must take a small boat to get there. On arrival at the single community dock, a guest would find no welcoming party, no stores, few cars, no paved roads, no electricity, or landline phones and no maps.

Long before Europeans set foot on the island, it was called Schishuney by the Lummi people, which means, “fishing place with a pole” The island was a seasonal stop for fishing, clamming, hunting and harvesting camas. The island received the name Waldron from Wilkes Expedition officer, Lieutenant Case who with his group surveyed the land in 1841. It was either named after the captain’s clerk on the Porpoise, Thomas W. Waldron or R. R. Waldron, Purser of the Vincennes.

In 1870, a census reported a total of six residents on the island. There were four white men: Edwin Wood, John T. Oldham, Benjamine Hunt and John Brown. The other two residents were Indian women: Jeannie Wood, wife of Edwin and Elizabeth Oldham, wife of John. By the late 1870s, these first hardy souls were joined by many other families on the remote island. Among the first of the newer settlers were Eduard and Lena Graignic who built the first framed house on the island in 1900 and eventually hired the first school teacher to come to the island to teach their children and others in 1894. Their son, Peter, was the first white child to be born on the island.

Early industries on the island included cutting cordwood for a lime company in Roche Harbor, logging, fishing and even smuggling of people (typically Chinese laborers). In the 1890s, a stone quarry was opened at Point Disney (named after a sailmaker, Solomon Disney), on the southeast tip of the island to provide paving stones for Yesler Way in Seattle and the adult population of Waldron quadrupled. This boom lasted until about 1908 when concrete became a more popular material to use than paving stones. Most of the men left but they left a legacy in the form of a community house, daily mail service and a good dock.

Today many of the descendants of the first settlers are still residing on original homesteads and they value their privacy on the island. There are no public utilities on the island, mail only arrives once a week and internet access is still a recent addition to island life. Most of the island is private but two areas are managed by the San Juan Preservation Trust. Cowlitz Bay Preserve is open to the public for day use and Point Disney is available only with special permission.