Interesting Facts about the San Juan Islands
- There are no traffic lights anywhere in the islands.
- San Juan County has more miles of shoreline (375) than any other county in the United States. (Note: Hawaii is made up of 5 counties.)
- There are no rivers in the islands, but there are several waterfalls (Orcas Island).
- There are on average 247 days of sunshine a year and half the rain of Seattle or Portland.
- The flight time from Seattle is under 30 minutes.
- Shaw Island School is the longest continuously operating school in Washington State.
- Roche Harbor's business license is one of the first issued in Washington State. It was established as a business prior to statehood.
- President Theodore Roosevelt slept at Roche Harbor's Hotel de Haro twice - 1906 and 1907.
- John Wayne's custom over-size bathtub is in the Hotel de Haro. He was once a frequent visitor.
- The Pig War (1859 - 1872) on San Juan Island was the last time that Great Britain and the U.S. opposed each other on U.S. soil.
- General George Pickett, of the famed Pickett's Charge at the Civil War's Battle of Gettysburg, was commander of American forces during the Pig War.
- Construction of the redoubt at the top of a hill in the American camp to let the cannon oversee the water approaches to the island was supervised by engineer Henry Martyn Robert. Later in his military career, Robert discovered a fascination with parliamentary procedure, and went on to author Robert's Rules of Order.
The San Juans are family islands. People from all over the country and the world have found that the islands are perfect for vacations year after year. |
Did you know that much of San Juan Islands forests were logged to feed the lime kilns? More info here.
Lime Kiln Point State Park on San Juan hosts the only whale watching park in the world. More than 100,000 people visit the site each year in hopes of catching a glimpse of the orcas. Informational plaques at the park tell visitors about these whales that call the islands home.
The San Juan Island Whale Museum is one of only 14 whale museumsm located in the United States.
The intricate waterways of the San Juan Islands made the perfect hiding place for smugglers, especially during the Prohibition period. There are popular stories of enterprising islanders who found easy ways to obtain large amounts of the illegal liquors, and opiates.
The San Juan Islands are actually made up of a group of 28 different islands.
The San Juan Islands are generally quite hilly, the tallest mountain in the islands being Mount Constitution at almost exactly a half-mile (800 m) elevation.
Notable landmarks on San Juan Island include the old British and American Camps at opposite ends of the island which together comprise the San Juan Island National Historical Park, which commemorates the 1859 "Pig War". Interpretive centers and reconstructed buildings, formal gardens, etc. recall the history of early European settlement in the area.
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Lopez Island Places of Interest
Lopez Island General Info
Orcas Island Activities
Orcas Island Places of Interest
Orcas Island General Info
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San Juan Island Places of Interest
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