Waldron, also known as Waldron Island, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

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. Its population was 104 at the 2000 census. Waldron is in 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 ...

. It is designated as a Limited Development District and commercial recreation facilities are prohibited. There is no ferry service, only one county-owned dock, and no electricity or water supply.

Geography

Waldron is an island of irregular shape with a land area of 4.6 sq mi (11.9 km).

Climate

This region experiences warm and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Waldron has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

History

During a Spanish expedition in 1791, Francisco Eliza named the Island "Lemos." However, the current name of the island was given in May 1841 when

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 ...

officer Lieutenant Case of the ''

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attached ...

'' and his party surveyed Puget Sound. During this survey, one of the San Juan islands was named after one or other of a pair of Waldron brothers, Richard Russell Waldron or Thomas Westbrook Waldron. In the nineteenth century Waldron Island

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

was mined for use in various buildings. Coal deposits were also discovered on Waldron Island.

Homesteaders The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of th ...

settled the island in the nineteenth century, and the Krumdiack Homestead, built in 1890, is currently listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. In 1941 Waldron resident June Burn featured Waldron prominently in her autobiography ''Living High'' and described her family's experience building a log cabin on the island.June Burn, ''Living High: An Unconventional Autobiography'' (June Burn, 1941), postscript Her daughter-in-law,

Doris Burn Doris "Doe" Burn (born Doris Wernstedt; April 24, 1923 – March 9, 2011) was an American children's book author and illustrator. She lived most of her life on Waldron Island in the San Juan Islands archipelago of Washington. Life and career D ...

, also wrote several books while living on the island. The last store on Waldron closed in 1942 and no regular ferry service has been offered to the island. Since 1976, Waldron has been a 'limited development district'. No large-scale mining of natural resources is allowed, and no large homes or paved roads may be built.Hatcher, C. (2000 April 26). Trouble in an island paradise. ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer.'
(accessed March 27, 2010)
/ref> In 1997 the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...

conducted a drug raid on Waldron, confiscating 886 marijuana plants and arresting 7 people.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 104 people, 62 households, and 27 families residing in the unincorporated town. The racial makeup of the city was 95.19%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.96%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 3.85% from two or more races.

References

Waldron Island: Blocks 2085 thru 2091, Census Tract 9601, San Juan County, Washington
United States Census Bureau

External links

Waldron Island
{{Authority control Unincorporated communities in San Juan County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) San Juan Islands