Shaw Island
Encyclopedia
San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the northwest corner of the contiguous United States between the US mainland and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of the U.S...
served by the Washington State Ferries
Washington State Ferries
Washington State Ferries is a passenger and automobile ferry service owned and operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation that serves communities on Puget Sound and in the San Juan Islands. It is the most used ferry system in the world and the largest passenger and automobile...
. The island has a land area of 19.952 km² (7.7037 sq mi) and a small year-round population of 240 (2010 census
United States Census, 2010
The Twenty-third United States Census, known as Census 2010 or the 2010 Census, is the current national census of the United States. National Census Day was April 1, 2010 and is the reference date used in enumerating individuals...
), with only a slight increase during tourist season. The Wilkes Expedition, in 1841, named the island after John Shaw, a United States Naval Officer
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. This island has the reputation for being "exclusive", yet the island enjoys a rich, tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone and only the last four digits of phone numbers are given.
Many years ago, a sign was put high up, by an individual, at the terminal reading "residents and guests only." The sign was so high that nobody wanted to climb up and claim it so it was posted for a couple of weeks.
In the years of 2009-2010, it was reported that several residences were hit by the "Barefoot Bandit
Colton Harris-Moore
Colton A. "Colt" Harris-Moore is a criminal and former fugitive from Camano Island, Washington. He was charged with the thefts of small aircraft, a boat, and two cars and in the burglaries of at least 100 private residences in various locations around the Pacific Northwest of the United States...
".
On July 24, 2011, 44-youth were injured when a tractor pulling a trailer downhill was overpowered by the sheer weight of the people riding the trailer. About 50 people were on the island from two different churches on a summer retreat. When descending down the steep grade of Hoffman Cove Road, the trailer overpowered the tractor and began pushing it down the grade. As a result, the whole unit jackknifed a spilled the occupants onto the road. Four youth were airlifted to hospital, while paramedics were sent from Orcas Island
Orcas Island
Orcas Island is the largest of the San Juan Islands, which are located in the northwestern corner of Washington state in San Juan County, Washington.-History:...
to tend to the rest of the injured. A ferry was re-routed to take the less seriously injured to the mainland.
Public land
Shaw is unique among those islands served by the state ferries in having virtually no commercial or tourist-oriented facilities other than one small park, Shaw Island County Park. This park was purchased in the 1970s by Shaw Island residents so that people stranded on the island would have somewhere to go. This was necessary due to visitors illegally camping on private property out of desperation or camping at the ferry landing, which was also frowned upon.The University of Washington also owns numerous pieces of property across the island, notably the Cedar Rock Reserve on the south side of the island (gate at the end of Hoffman Cove Road). The public is allowed to visit but it is only considered a day-use area. There is a guest book at the gate. The University has a few buildings on the property for residing research students.
Most of the island is privately owned. Because of the low population, the San Juan Island ferries make fewer stops per day at Shaw than at the other islands on the route.
Roads on Shaw are mostly inland and afford little access to, or even views of, the shoreline. There are 11.5 miles (18.5 km) of asphalt seal-coated and 2.37 miles (3.8 km) of gravel
Gravel road
A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the United States. In New Zealand, they are known as 'metal roads'...
public roads on Shaw. The primary roads are three loops in the interior of the island, with branches to the ferry dock, Shaw Island County Park, Neck Point, and Broken Point, plus a few other minor ones. The "figure eight" route is popular with cyclists and only takes about two hours to see everything. Canoe Island
Canoe Island
Canoe Island lies in the center of the San Juan Islands in Upright Channel between Shaw Island and Lopez Island. The two water approaches to Indian Cove County Park on Shaw Island pass to either side of Canoe Island, which protects Indian Cove from high waves and surf. At low tide, mudflats in the...
is nestled in Indian Cove, and may be mistaken for part of Shaw when viewed from much of Upright Channel and beyond.
Nuns
For more than two decades, nunNun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s from the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist
Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist
The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women. The motherhouse is in Meriden, Connecticut in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford....
ran the island's only store and the ferry terminal. There are two other Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
order
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
s of nuns on Shaw: the Order of the Benedictines—who run a monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, Our Lady of the Rock—and the Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
. 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.
Historical structures
Shaw has what is considered a one-room schoolhouse; a room was recently added to serve as a computerComputer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
center, expanding it to two rooms. The building serves elementary and middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
students and is listed on the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as Little Red Schoolhouse
Little Red Schoolhouse (Shaw Island, Washington)
The Little Red Schoolhouse on Shaw Island, Washington was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.It is considered a one-room schoolhouse; however, a room was recently added to serve as a computer center, expanding it to two rooms. The building serves elementary and middle...
. Following eighth grade, students must choose to study on one of the larger islands: Lopez
Lopez Island
Lopez Island is the third largest of the U.S. San Juan Islands. Lopez Island is in land area. The 2000 census population was 2,177.-History:...
, Orcas
Orcas Island
Orcas Island is the largest of the San Juan Islands, which are located in the northwestern corner of Washington state in San Juan County, Washington.-History:...
, or San Juan
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 and a population of 6,822 as of the 2000 census....
. Shaw is also home to a small library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
and museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
, which is privately run through donations. Visitors are required to buy a membership if they wish to use internet. Shaw Island is famous for its interesting wooded road signs. The old ones are displayed on the library at the center of the island and the current ones were made by a local resident on a CNC machine.
Shaw Island was featured during the fifth season episode Access
Access (The West Wing)
-Plot:Producing a program on past and present White House press secretaries, a television documentary crew follows C.J. around to film a "typical" day. But the presence of outsiders adds stress when a crisis involving a terrorist shootout with the FBI has a smiling C.J. trying to keep the story a...
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
Branch Davidian
The Branch Davidians are a Protestant sect that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists , a reform movement that began within the Seventh-day Adventist Church around 1930...
standoff.