McConnell 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 ...

San Juan County, Washington San Juan County is a county located in the Salish Sea in the far northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 17,788. The county seat and only incorporated city is Friday Harbor, located on Sa ...

, United States. It is located less than from the southwest end of

Orcas Island Orcas Island () is the largest of the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest, which are in the northwestern corner of San Juan County, Washington. History and naming of the island The name "Orcas" is a shortened form of ''Horcasitas,'' fro ...

. The island was the former private reserve of

Thomas Gordon Thompson Thomas Gordon Thompson (November 28, 1888 – August 10, 1961) was an American chemist and oceanographer. Early life and education Thompson was born on November 28, 1888, at Rose Bank, Staten Island, New York. He received his bachelor's degree fro ...

. A portion of it is currently a nature preserve.

Geography

The island has a land area of with the southern part of the island rocky and elevated and the northern part covered by

bigleaf maple ''Acer macrophyllum'', the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus '' Acer''. It is native to western North America, mostly near the Pacific coast, from southernmost Alaska to southern California. Some stands are al ...

and

Western redcedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae, w ...

trees. It is the largest of the Wasp Island group, which includes

Yellow Island Yellow Island, one of the San Juan Islands, is an island, located south-west of Orcas Island, and north of Shaw Island, near Jones Island State Park, in San Juan County, Washington, United States. The island is home to a wide array of flora and f ...

, Reef Island, and others.

History

The island was originally known as Brown Island, named by

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861–1865), he commanded ' during the ...

for fourteen members of his

United States Exploring 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 ...

crew who shared the same surname. It was later acquired by Victor McConnell, its first settler, who claimed squatters' rights. McConnell Island was purchased at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

by Thomas Gordon Thompson, a

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

professor and

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

chemical warfare Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym ...

researcher who was later the namesake of the '' USNS Thomas Thompson'' and '' R/V Thomas Thompson''. Thompson financed the purchase of the island through the sale of his valuable stamp collection and later built a home on it from native stone and driftwood. During his proprietorship of the remote island, Thompson used it to entertain friends and guests from the nearby

Friday Harbor Laboratories Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL), is a marine biology field station of the University of Washington, located in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington, United States. Friday Harbor Labs is known for its intensive summer classes offered to co ...

. In one summer alone he received more than 700 visitors. In 1997 a portion of the island was transferred to the

San Juan Preservation Trust The San Juan Preservation Trust is a private, non-profit and membership-based land trust dedicated to helping people and communities conserve land on the San Juan Islands in Washington state. Noted for its $6.4 million purchase of Vendovi Island in ...

, a private conservation organization, to be used as a nature preserve. What is known as the Thompson Preserve includes of protected shoreline as well as the original Thomas Thompson home. The rest of the island remains under private ownership.

References

{{reflist, 30em San Juan Islands