From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Location of Shaw Island in the San Juans
Most of the southern half of Shaw Island (looking to the east),
with the much smaller
Canoe Island immediately past it, then
Lopez Island most
prominent in the background
Shaw Island is the smallest of the four San Juan
Islands served by the Washington State Ferries. The
island has a land area of 19.952 km² (7.7037 sq mi) and a small
year-round population of 235 (2000
census), with only a slight increase during tourist season.
Therefore, the ferries make fewer stops per day than they do at the
other islands. The Wilkes
Expedition, in 1841, named the island after John Shaw, a
naval
officer.
Shaw is unique among those islands served by the state ferries
in having virtually no commercial or tourist-oriented facilities
other than two smallish parks, most of the island being privately
owned by people who like their privacy. Roads are mostly inland and afford little access
to, or even views of, the shoreline. There are 11.5 miles
(18.5 km) of seal-coated and 2.37 miles (3.81 km) of
gravel public roads
on Shaw. The primary roads are three loops in the interior of the
island, with branches to the ferry dock, a county park, Neck Point,
and Broken Point, plus a few other minor ones.
For more than two decades, one of the unique things about Shaw
was that three nuns from the Franciscan Sisters of
the Eucharist ran the island's only store and the ferry dock.
There are two other Catholic orders of nuns
on Shaw: the Order of the Benedictines—who run a monastery, Our Lady of the
Rock—and the Sisters of Mercy. In late 2003, the
Franciscans announced plans to sell the store, including the
adjacent small marina, and leave the island. As expected, the sale
(to a couple that has lived on Shaw since 1995) closed by June
2004.
Shaw has a one-room
schoolhouse (a room was recently added to serve as a computer center, making it
technically a two-room schoolhouse) that serves elementary and junior high students. It is listed on the
U.S. National Register of
Historic Places. After eighth grade, students must choose to
study on one of the larger islands: Lopez, Orcas, or San Juan. Shaw is also home to a small
library and a small museum.
Shaw Island was featured during the fifth season episode Access of the political
drama The West
Wing as the site of a standoff between terrorist suspects
and the US government, similar to the Waco, Texas Branch Davidian
standoff.
References
External
links
| The Mosquito
Fleet of Puget Sound |
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| Sidewheelers |
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”They managed to keep their particular sort of jaunty, wind-swept
beauty until the end.” – Newell, Gordon R., Ships of the Inland
Sea
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| Sternwheelers |
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| Propellers |
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| Steamboat lines |
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| Steamboat captains |
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| Builders and shipyards |
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Steamboats in other areas
of the Pacific Northwest |
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Coordinates: 48°34′24″N 122°57′26″W / 48.573199789010694°N
122.95726776123°W / 48.573199789010694;
-122.95726776123047
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