Decatur Island is one of the

San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

state,

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, located just east of

Lopez Island Lopez Island is the third largest of the San Juan Islands and an unincorporated town in San Juan County, Washington, United States. Lopez Island is in land area. The 2000 census population was 2,177, though the population swells in the summer, ...

across Lopez Sound and just south of

Blakely Island Blakely Island (SENĆOŦEN: XEMXEMIȽĆ) in San Juan County, Washington is the sixth largest island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State, United States, encompassing a land area of 16.852 km (6.507 sq m). It is separated from Cypres ...

across Thatcher Pass. Named by the

Wilkes Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

in 1841 for naval officer Stephen Decatur, it is 3.524 square miles (9.127 km²) in area. There are no public facilities other than one public boat ramp in Davis Bay on the east side of the island. The San Juan Preservation Trust allows public day-use of their property on the southern tip of the island. There is no

Washington State Ferry Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals lo ...

service to Decatur; access is by private boat or plane. The airport on Decatur Island is private, for residents of the Decatur Shores community only. All other persons wishing to use the airport must obtain prior permission from the community. Paraclete Charter Service and Island Express Charters provide passenger-only ferry service to Decatur from Anacortes. Northwest Sky Ferry provides air service from Bellingham, Washington. Island Transport operates a ferry/barge, transporting cargo and vehicles from Skyline Marina in Anacortes to the public boat ramp. There is a school for kindergarten through eighth grade. There is a private nine-hole rustic golf course, Memorial Day to Labor Day there is a Farmer's Market each Saturday at the country store. The 2000 census reported a resident population of 71 persons. A post office called Decatur was established in 1891, and remained in operation until 1969. James Island State Park is just to the east of the island.

References

Decatur Island: Blocks 2102 thru 2118, Census Tract 9605, San Juan County, Washington
United States Census Bureau {{Authority control San Juan Islands Populated places in San Juan County, Washington

See also

References