From this vantage point, you can see where Charley dug drain ditches in the 1860s or 1870s. Charley, known at the time as Siwash Charley, is one of the few Indigenous men on island we have record of. (Siwash, from Chinook Jargon, is considered a…

In the early 20th century, just about from here, a long pier stretched out into the water, towards the marker you can see in the channel. Steamships, like the Georgia, would deliver passengers and goods to “Lopez” — one of three centers of commerce…

Indigenous People have lived and stewarded Sx’wálech (Lopez Island) since time immemorial. The earliest evidence of people arriving in the Puget Sound area comes from over 12,500 years ago — a time when these islands were likely still under ice.…

Walking around Lopez Village you might see two or three similar looking tall structures. There's one here, one by Vortex Juice Bar, and another -- can you find it? These historic building are water towers, over 100 years old. Oscar and Bertie…

In the early 20th century, if someone said they were headed to “Lopez” it meant they were headed to the town Lopez, where the present day village is. At that time, Lopez boasted 3 or 4 communities, depending on how you count. Richardson, at the…

The Village House, currently Isabel’s Espresso and Honey Bee Consignment, was first built across the street by brothers Oscar and Bertie Weeks. According to Oscar’s son Lincoln Weeks: My dad (Oscar) moved the house off the lot to here and…

Just a few steps from here, Hiram Hutchinson ran the first grocery store (or trading post) on Lopez Island. The store offered staple goods such as flour, sugar, coffee, gunpowder and tobacco. “Hi” or “Hutch,” as he was called, came to Lopez in the…

Built in 1894 by Newton Jones and Jim Farnsworth, the Lopez Library began life as a schoolhouse, later serving as a restaurant and even a fire house. The lumber for the school arrived in July 1894 aboard the Schooner Port Admiral. Students went to…