Doe Bay, Washington is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in San Juan County,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, United States. Doe Bay sits on the south-eastern shore of

Orcas Island Orcas Island () is the largest of the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest, in northwestern Washington, United States. History and naming of the island The name "Orcas" is a shortened form of ''Horcasitas,'' from Juan Vicente de Güemes P ...

. Doe Bay is about by road from Orcas Village, about by road from Eastsound, and a short from

Olga Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia ...

. Deer Harbor, a community on the opposite side of the island from Doe Bay, is about by road. It is also very near

Moran State Park Moran State Park is a public recreation area on Orcas Island in Puget Sound's San Juan Islands in the state of Washington, United States. The state park encompasses over 5,000 acres of various terrain including forests, wetlands, bogs, hills, an ...

. It hosts an annual music festival.

History

Pre-European history

Before the arrival of the European settlers, the area was a traditional sanctuary for various Coast Salish tribes.

Recent history

In the early 1870s, John Gottleib Viereck (a migrant of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

origins), Jennie Kahlan (a woman of Tsimishian origins), alongside their seven children settled the area of what is today known as Doe Bay. Many immigrants soon followed them, seeing the prospect of limited governance in the area as a promising characteristic. The settlement grew between 1890 and 1910 with the apperances of many orchards and farms in the area, and in 1908, the local post office was created. Up until 1914, the entirety of Orcas, including Doe Bay, grew as an agricultural hub, and thus structured themsleved around an agricultural economy, however,

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

stopped sales of U.S. fruit to foreign markets, thus heavily damaging the local economy, reducing the local active farms. Starting from 1922, Doe Bay became a touristic hub, changing its economy once again, using the proximity to natural highlights such as the

to boost its tourism. This has been the policy that the community has used for the last few decades.

References

Unincorporated communities in San Juan County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) {{SanJuanCountyWA-geo-stub