Harstine Island, Washington
Encyclopedia
Harstine Island is an unincorporated community
in Mason County, Washington, United States
, located on a similarly named island
. The island is located west of Case Inlet
in southern Puget Sound
, 16 km (9.9 mi) north of Olympia
. It has a land area of 48.305 km² (18.7 sq mi), and had a population of 1,002 as of the 2000 census
. The Bridge dedication was held on June 22, 1969, starting at 2 pm. Before the bridge the island was served by the Harstine Island ferry, the cost in 1962 was 50¢ (fifty cents) for car and passengers.
Pickering Passage, to the northwest, separates the island from mainland, while Case Inlet, to the east, separates it from Key Peninsula
. Squaxin Island
lies to the southwest, separated by Peale Passage
. To the south, Harstine Island is separated from the mainland by Dana Passage.
, and (http://www.co.mason.wa.us/). Alternate spellings of the name include Hartstene, Harsteen, Harstein, Harstene, Hartstein and Harstine. In 1997 Washington State Legislative
action resulted in the name officially becoming Harstine Island
(1798–1877) and referred to as the Wilkes Expedition or the United States Exploring Expedition
left from Hampton Roads
in Virginia
on the east coast of United States for a round the world expedition. In 1841 the expedition explored much of the west coast including Puget Sound
. The island was named by Lt. Wilkes for Lt. Henry J. Hartstene ~1801-March 31, 1868. (or Hartstein),
From 1922 to 1969, a ferry
owned and operated by Mason County, Washington crossed Pickering Passage to link Harstine Island to the mainland. The ferry was replaced by a bridge in 1969
Some of the confusion with spellings were caused by the man himself. Almost every time his name was published before 1855, the 'Hartstein' spelling was used, including the account he wrote himself of the Arctic expedition he led in 1855. Most maps from the 1840s to the 1890s spelled the island 'Hartstein'. In the 1850s, he started using the 'Hartstene' spelling. His biography was listed in a book published in 1994 called The Concise Dictionary of American Jewish Biography. The authors admit they included some of the 24,000 people in the book just because they had Jewish-sounding names. Whether he was Jewish or not, or if he and his wife just got tired of people mispronouncing the 2nd syllable of their name with a long "i" sound, they definitely made an effort to use the spelling 'Hartstene' from then on. And after he gained a little fame in the 1850s with his Arctic expedition, and then sailing HMS Resolute to the United Kingdom
and presenting it personally to Queen Victoria in 1856, he used it almost exclusively. There's a photo of him autographed 'H.J. Hartstene'. But there is a Civil War photo of him labeled "Capt. Hartstein". He, his wife, and daughter were each listed as Hartstein on the passenger list of the steamer Fulton, the ship that took them to Le Havre
, France
in 1867, the year before he died. This was probably because their legal names were required. But his obituary in 1868, his daughter's in 1880, and his wife's in 1903, all used Hartstene. Since map makers knew the island was named after him, they followed suit. The U.S. General Land Office
's official map changed from Hartstein to Hartstene between 1883 and 1887. Many maps from the 1860s and throughout the 20th century used Hartstene. The Hartstine spelling appeared on a few maps in the 1890s, followed by Harstine in the early 1900s. The post office on the north side of the island that operated from 1892-1926 was probably always called 'Harstine Island', but who first used that spelling is unknown.
The Captain's family lived in Newark, NJ most of his life, and his ships often sailed out of New York Harbor
. The New York Times has digitized all of their newspaper articles since 1851. There are photos of the actual newsprint, and they are well indexed. In searching for every spelling of Harstine, this is how many instances of each spelling that come up pertaining to Henry or his family:
Hartstein-39, Hartstene-7, Harstein-2, Harstene-1, Harstien-1, Hartstine-1, Harstine-0
Five of the instances of Hartstene come after his death.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in Mason County, Washington, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, located on a similarly named island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
. The island is located west of Case Inlet
Case Inlet
Case Inlet, in southern Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington, is an arm of water between Key Peninsula on the east and Hartstine Island on the west. Its northern end, called North Bay, reaches nearly to Hood Canal, creating the defining isthmus of Kitsap Peninsula. Case Inlet is the boundary...
in southern Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
, 16 km (9.9 mi) north of Olympia
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
. It has a land area of 48.305 km² (18.7 sq mi), and had a population of 1,002 as of the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
. The Bridge dedication was held on June 22, 1969, starting at 2 pm. Before the bridge the island was served by the Harstine Island ferry, the cost in 1962 was 50¢ (fifty cents) for car and passengers.
Pickering Passage, to the northwest, separates the island from mainland, while Case Inlet, to the east, separates it from Key Peninsula
Key Peninsula
The Key Peninsula is a finger of land in Puget Sound, Washington, United States . It is approximately long and extends south from the Kitsap Peninsula. It is part of Pierce County, Washington. Some of its towns include:...
. Squaxin Island
Squaxin Island
Squaxin Island is in the extreme southwestern part of Puget Sound in Mason County, Washington, USA. The island is an Indian reservation of the Native American Squaxin Island Tribe. It once contained a Washington State Park by the same name, which has since been closed, and the land returned to the...
lies to the southwest, separated by Peale Passage
Peale Passage
Peale Passage is a strait, in the southern of part of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. Entirely within Mason County, Washington, Peale Passage separates Hartstine Island from Squaxin Island....
. To the south, Harstine Island is separated from the mainland by Dana Passage.
Hartstene vs Harstine
Of the several possible ways to spell the name of the island, Hartstene and Harstine are the most used and most popular. Both have been used nearly interchangeably in many published references including WikipediaWikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
, and (http://www.co.mason.wa.us/). Alternate spellings of the name include Hartstene, Harsteen, Harstein, Harstene, Hartstein and Harstine. In 1997 Washington State Legislative
Washington State Legislature
The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a bipartisan, bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 Representatives, and the upper Washington State Senate, with 49 Senators.The State Legislature...
action resulted in the name officially becoming Harstine Island
History
On August 18, 1838 a group of ships led by commanding officer, U.S. Navy Lt. Charles WilkesCharles Wilkes
Charles Wilkes was an American naval officer and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and commanded the ship in the Trent Affair during the American Civil War...
(1798–1877) and referred to as the Wilkes Expedition or the United States Exploring Expedition
United States Exploring Expedition
The United States Exploring Expedition was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States from 1838 to 1842. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones. The voyage was authorized by Congress in...
left from Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
on the east coast of United States for a round the world expedition. In 1841 the expedition explored much of the west coast including Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
. The island was named by Lt. Wilkes for Lt. Henry J. Hartstene ~1801-March 31, 1868. (or Hartstein),
From 1922 to 1969, a ferry
Harstine Island ferry
The Harstine Island ferry connected Harstine Island with mainland Mason County, Washington across Pickering Passage in south Puget Sound until 1969 when the ferry was replaced by a bridge.-Course of service:...
owned and operated by Mason County, Washington crossed Pickering Passage to link Harstine Island to the mainland. The ferry was replaced by a bridge in 1969
Spelling
Although he wasn't still a member of the expedition during the Puget Sound survey, his name, as well as that of Samuel Stretch, were given to islands probably because they impressed Lt. Wilkes when they led a successful mission to get supplies to stranded shipmates earlier in the voyage while Wilkes had temporary command of Hartstein's ship, the Porpoise.Some of the confusion with spellings were caused by the man himself. Almost every time his name was published before 1855, the 'Hartstein' spelling was used, including the account he wrote himself of the Arctic expedition he led in 1855. Most maps from the 1840s to the 1890s spelled the island 'Hartstein'. In the 1850s, he started using the 'Hartstene' spelling. His biography was listed in a book published in 1994 called The Concise Dictionary of American Jewish Biography. The authors admit they included some of the 24,000 people in the book just because they had Jewish-sounding names. Whether he was Jewish or not, or if he and his wife just got tired of people mispronouncing the 2nd syllable of their name with a long "i" sound, they definitely made an effort to use the spelling 'Hartstene' from then on. And after he gained a little fame in the 1850s with his Arctic expedition, and then sailing HMS Resolute to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and presenting it personally to Queen Victoria in 1856, he used it almost exclusively. There's a photo of him autographed 'H.J. Hartstene'. But there is a Civil War photo of him labeled "Capt. Hartstein". He, his wife, and daughter were each listed as Hartstein on the passenger list of the steamer Fulton, the ship that took them to Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1867, the year before he died. This was probably because their legal names were required. But his obituary in 1868, his daughter's in 1880, and his wife's in 1903, all used Hartstene. Since map makers knew the island was named after him, they followed suit. The U.S. General Land Office
General Land Office
The General Land Office was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department of the Treasury...
's official map changed from Hartstein to Hartstene between 1883 and 1887. Many maps from the 1860s and throughout the 20th century used Hartstene. The Hartstine spelling appeared on a few maps in the 1890s, followed by Harstine in the early 1900s. The post office on the north side of the island that operated from 1892-1926 was probably always called 'Harstine Island', but who first used that spelling is unknown.
The Captain's family lived in Newark, NJ most of his life, and his ships often sailed out of New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
. The New York Times has digitized all of their newspaper articles since 1851. There are photos of the actual newsprint, and they are well indexed. In searching for every spelling of Harstine, this is how many instances of each spelling that come up pertaining to Henry or his family:
Hartstein-39, Hartstene-7, Harstein-2, Harstene-1, Harstien-1, Hartstine-1, Harstine-0
Five of the instances of Hartstene come after his death.
- Charles WilkesCharles WilkesCharles Wilkes was an American naval officer and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and commanded the ship in the Trent Affair during the American Civil War...
lists in his 1845 book, Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, Lieutenant H.J. Hartstein was a member of the crew of the United States Brig PorpoiseUSS Porpoise (1836)The second USS Porpoise was a 224-ton Dolphin class brigantine The USS Porpoise was later rerigged as a brig...
, then joined the crew of the ship Relief at CallaoCallaoCallao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...
. The Relief, deemed too slow to stay with the expedition, was ordered on July 12, 1839, to bring supplies to HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
before returning to the east coast. - Edmond Stephen Meany reported in his 1910 book History of the State of Washington that Hartstene Island was named for Lieutenant H.J. Hartstein.
- Edmond S. Meany reported in his 1923 book Origin of Washington Geographic Names that Hartstene Island was named for Lieutenant Henry J. Hartstene
- According to the book The Washington Historical Quarterly By Washington University State Historical Society it is Harstine Island, named after an officer whose family name was undoubtedly Hartstene.
- Dr. Harry W. Deegan reports in his 1971 (revised) book History of Mason County Washington That Harstine Island is named for Lieutenant H. J. Harstine of the 1838-1841 Wilkes ExpeditionUnited States Exploring ExpeditionThe United States Exploring Expedition was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States from 1838 to 1842. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones. The voyage was authorized by Congress in...
. This is mentioned in connection with an exploration of the Mason County area in 1845 by Michael T. Simmons and 8 others that was guided by Peter Borcier who had earlier guided for the Wilkes Expedition
- The web page Hartstenepointe.org sums the naming argument up "Hartstene Pointe Maintenance Association - A gated community on the north end of Harstine Island". The island is named Harstine, but a lot of things related to the island are spelled Hartstene.
National Historical Places
Harstine Island Community Hall- Added 1989 - Building - #89000212
- Location - North Island Dr. and Hartstene Island Dr., Hartstene Island
- Historic Significance: Event
- Area of Significance: Social History
- Period of Significance: 1900-1924, 1925–1949
- Owner: Private
- Historic Function: Social
- Historic Sub-function: Meeting Hall
- Current Function: Social
- Current Sub-function: Meeting Hall