Utsalady (also, historically, UtsaladdyUtsalady [Utsaladdy
/nowiki> Ladies Aid">tsaladdy">Utsalady [Utsaladdy
/nowiki> Ladies Aid Washington Women's History Consortium. Accessed online 2009-09-22. and ''Lushootseed'':

ʔəcəladiʔ) is an Unincorporated area">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 the north shore of Camano Island, Island County, Washington, Island County, Washington (state), Washington, US. It is located within the Camano, Washington, Camano CDP. It has an elementary school, part of the Stanwood, Washington, Stanwood school system. The 1923 building of the Utsalady

Ladies Aid ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

(founded 1908, and still active as of 2008) is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and the

Washington State Heritage Register The Washington Heritage Register is an official list of sites and properties found throughout Washington state, United States. The Washington Heritage Register is administered by the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preserva ...

. The name "Utsalady" comes from the

Lushootseed Lushootseed ( ), historically known as Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish, or Skagit-Nisqually, is a Central Coast Salish language of the Salishan language family. Lushootseed is the general name for the dialect continuum composed of two main di ...

placename /ʔəcəládiʔ/, of unknown meaning.

Early history

The Kikiallus Indians inhabited this area. They had a long-house here and along the Skagit River on Fir Island. They were a part of the Coast Salish. The

natives There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

of the region called the place ''Doksk Ad''. The first settlers of European origin arrived in 1853; two years later Utsalady was exporting timber as far as the shipyards at Brest in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and, by 1860, to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

.Plaque at Utsalady Point, west of town, consulted 2009-09-19 In 1870, the community had 54 houses, 147 people, a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shop,

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

, a saloon, a

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

and a school. In 1872 a

Masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

hall was added to this and in 1874 a

granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

. As of 1883, sailing ships were carrying away 74,000 board feet of timber daily. Utsalady was a base from which settlers headed to the Stillaguamish and Skagit Valleys on the mainland. The Masonic lodge originally established at Utsalady, F&AM Camanio Lodge No. 19, moved in 1890 to the mainland in Stanwood, where it still remains as of 2009.Camanio Lodge No. 19
official site. Accessed online 2009-09-22.

Notes

Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) Unincorporated communities in Island County, Washington Washington (state) placenames of Native American origin {{IslandCountyWA-geo-stub