Eastsound (not to be confused with East Sound, which is the body of water adjoining Eastsound) is an
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 ...
on
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 ...
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. Eastsound is the largest population center on Orcas Island, the second-most populated (after
San Juan Island
San Juan Island is the second-largest and most populous of the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington, United States. It has a land area of 142.59 km2 (55.053 sq mi) and a population of 8,632 as of the 2020 census.
Washington State F ...
) and physically largest of the
San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands is 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 ...
.
History
The first inhabitants of Eastsound were the
Lummi
Lummi most commonly refers to:
Lummi people
*Lummi people, a Coast Salish people located in western Washington state
**Lummi Nation
The Lummi Nation ( ; Lummi dialect, Lummi: ' or '';'' officially known as the Lummi Tribe of the Lummi ...
tribe, who were often raided by the warlike
Haida
Haida may refer to:
Haida people
Many uses of the word derive from the name of an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America.
* Haida people, an Indigenous ethnic group of North America (Canada)
** Council of the Haida Nati ...
, who traveled from Southeast
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
in massive war canoes to attack the Lummis, for the purpose of slaving. The Haida had a distinct advantage, armed with
flintlock
Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking lock (firearm), ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism its ...
rifles obtained from Russian traders. The first white people arrived in the 1850s, employees of the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
sent from the Fort Victoria post to hunt deer. These trappers brought smallpox, which, combined with the brutal Haida attacks, significantly reduced the native population.
One of the first European settlers of Eastsound was Charles Shattuck, who built a log cabin and operated a store in the late 1850s. Other early inhabitants of note included Michael Adams, a prospector and trapper from
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
and horticulturalist who planted the first apple orchard on Orcas. Belle Langell was the first white child born on Orcas, the daughter of Ephraim and Rosa Langell, who homesteaded near Michael Adams in present-day Eastsound. The Emmanuel Episcopal Church (Eastsound, Washington) was the first church on Orcas Island, was built in 1885, by the Reverend Sidney Robert Spencer Gray, on a plot of land deeded from Charles Shattuck.
Steamboats of the
Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet
The Puget Sound mosquito fleet was a multitude of private transportation companies running smaller passenger and freight boats on Puget Sound and nearby waterways and rivers. This large group of Steamboat, steamers and sternwheelers plied the wat ...
used to dock at East Sound, one such vessel was the ''Sioux'', a steel steamship built in 1910 and running out of Bellingham under the ownership of the Black Ball Line.
Climate
Arts and culture
The town is known for its community events, frequent musical performances, recreation and tourism. Eastsound consists of a village green, a few hotels and several restaurants, numerous gift shops, large grocery store, food
co-op
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...
, hardware store, pharmacy, brewery, various music venues, several churches, post office, school, small airport, and public dock. Eastsound's scenic location, thriving music and arts community, and quaint friendly village makes it a popular tourist destination.
Parks and recreation
There is a public village green with extensive lawn, picnic tables, shade trees, and outdoor stage that hosts music performances, community events, and the weekly farmers' market. Indian Island is just offshore Eastsound's public beach.
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 ...
is located near the community.
Infrastructure
Half a mile north of Eastsound is Orcas Island Airport, with scheduled service to
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
Anacortes
Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman.Friday Harbor 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 2020 census population was 3,156, though the population swells in the summe ...
and unscheduled service to many other locations.
Washington State Ferry
Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a public ferry system in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and operates 10 routes serving 20 terminals within Puget Sound and in the San ...
service to other islands and the mainland is located 8.4 miles south at Orcas Landing.
Media
The ''
Islands' Sounder
The ''Islands' Sounder'' is a newspaper published in Eastsound, Washington, Eastsound in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It was founded as ''The Orcas Sounder'' in 1964 by Al and Nickee Magnuson. It was expanded from 15 issues ...
'', a weekly publication founded as the ''Orcas Sounder'' in 1964, is based in Eastsound.
Notable residents
*
William Anders
William Alison Anders (17 October 1933 – 7 June 2024) was an American United States Air Force (USAF) major general, electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. In December 1968, he was a member of the crew of ...
, astronaut
*
Gary Larson
Gary Larson (born August 14, 1950) is an American cartoonist who created ''The Far Side'', a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to more than 1,900 newspapers for fifteen years. The series ended on January 1, 1995, ...