Smith Island is located in the eastern

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...

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 ...

, about midway between Admiralty Inlet and

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, ...

. It is connected to the smaller Minor Island, to its east, by a low spit that is covered at high tide. The low, grassy islands have a few trees and are an important habitat for seabirds, and the beaches are a resting site for

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

s. The islands are part of the San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge, and are usually closed to the public. The

Smith Island Light The Smith Island Light was a lighthouse on Smith Island, Island County, Washington. History The Smith Island Light was constructed in 1858 using the classic New England design of a 1-1/2 story keeper's house with a light tower centered on th ...

was constructed on the island in 1858. Originally, this stood about 200 feet away from the island's western edge. The bluff began to

erode Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the ...

, and when the bluff reached the front door in the 1950s, the lighthouse was abandoned. During the 1980s until the spring of 1998, the last part of the broken lighthouse clung precariously to the bluff. The lighthouse was replaced with an automated navigational light high. Minor Island also has a light. The island is also the site of a weather station operated by the United States

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditi ...

. Smith Island was discovered in 1791 by José María Narváez, who called it ''Isla de Bonilla''. It received its present name from

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

traders in the first half of the 19th century. Travel to these islands requires the largest open-water transit in Washington State. Their nearest neighbor is Whidbey Island, approximately four nautical miles distant.

References

External links

Smith Island, WA weather station
- National Data Buoy Center, NOAA. {{authority control Islands of Washington (state) Landforms of Island County, Washington Islands of Puget Sound