Carter's Department Store

This is a calendar, from 1911, from Carter's Department Store. It was never used, so all of the little calendar pages are still intact; amazing after all of these years. The image on the calendar is of "Mount Baker, as seen from Friday Harbor."

Cascade Falls Postcard

Here's an interesting postcard, addressed to my great-grandma, in 1914. It reads, "Dear Ada, Your class is going down to Newhall's Lagoon this (Wednesday afternoon). Be at O.H. Culvers with your lunch at 4 P.M. F. Mullis." I darkened the back of the postcard so that it would be easier to read. It's interesting to think about the days before email, cell phones, and other quick means of communication, and how sending a postcard might be the fastest way of getting news to someone...even in your own town!

Some additional things of interest; O.H. Culvers established the port at Friday Harbor, and F. Mullis is presumably Frank Mullis, renowned island builder and contractor. 

Eastsound Postcard

I love this postcard, which was sent in 1915, to my great-great grandfather on San Juan Island, from his daughter on Orcas Island. It reads, "Fishing is always good here at East Sound." Looks like it!

Knights of the Maccabees

For a long time I didn't know the story behind this image; I just knew that my great-grandma's brother, Frank Armstrong, was the man on the far left in the back row. Interestingly, the Lopez Island Historical Society submitted a copy to the Washington Rural Heritage site. Plus, it is also shown in the Images of America~Lopez Island book by Susan Lehne Ferguson and the Lopez Island Historical Society and Museum. I was thrilled when I was looking through my copy of the book, and saw the image. What's really interesting is that my photograph is unlabeled, but the one held by the LIHS is labeled, with one exception...my great-grandma's brother Frank! So, here you have the Knights of the Maccabees group, on Lopez Island, in the very early 1900s. They are (bottom row left to right) Johnny Graham, Tom King, John Cousins, Norman P. Hodgson, and Erv Eaton. The second row (left to right) are Frank Armstrong, Nick Davidson, Robert Cousins, Amoe Carr, Joe Cousins, and Ab Graham. I love looking at the clothes, and each man's expression!

Ferry Landings

A ferry's gotta land, right? Whenever we leave or arrive at a landing, I love thinking about how they have changed over the years. At my age, and with how I am used to seeing the docks, it's hard for me to imagine it being like this; how close the cars are to the landing, and the casual attitudes of those walking, and visiting, on the ramp. I don't think the WSDOT ferry employees would be too thrilled about someone sitting on the ramp, like the man in the image below!

Friday Harbor Kids

The island is a unique place to grow up; it's like raising your children within a safely nestled cocoon of community. I love these images of kids on the isle; it's fun to see their clothing styles and little things within the images that give you ideas of what their lives were like. Take a look...

Friday Harbor kids, in front of my great-grandparents' home on Argyle Road. My grandma is on the far left, top row.

My grandma is the stylish girl on the left, and her brother is in the U.S. Navy hat. The other four are unidentified.

Class photo; my grandma is on the top row, third in from the left. 

Class photo; my grandma's brother Eldon is second from the left in the middle row.

Look at this beautiful baby carriage! This little one is out front of my great-grandparents' home.

Friday Harbor, then...

Some of the wonderful Friday Harbor images I have in my collection...the top and bottom were taken by J.A. McCormick.

A little history...

  My family has lived in the San Juan Islands since 1885, when my great-great grandfather arrived on Lopez. In 1886, he moved to San Juan Island. Henry Armstrong was the first in our family to become an islander, and after him his daughter Adah (often spelled Ada), her daughter Marie, her son Ron, and his daughter...yours truly. Now, my own four children take on the role of being 6th generation islanders.

  My dad left the island when it was time for him to attend college, and then married and moved elsewhere. So, although I did not grow up on the island, I have been visiting here my whole life. My four kids and I moved to the island in 2004, into my grandparent's house, where my dad had grown up.

  While moving in, my dad showed me around some of the outbuildings, describing their contents. In the one closest to the house, filled with odds and ends, Fuller Brush items, and jars of canned goods dating back as far as the 1950's, he said that the back of the building held all the belongings from his grandparent's home. They had been moved to the building by his dad, when his Grandmother Adah had passed away. My Grandmother Marie was too heartbroken to go through them, and so there they had been, for 34 years.

   I was beyond intrigued, and soon began the process of cleaning out the front of the shed, in order to reach the precious belongings in the back. What I found was a treasure trove of history; a household of items packed away in steamer trunks and boxes; everything from clothes, books, and everyday items, to letters and pictures. I found obituaries and other documents, which enabled me to begin to trace our family history; a search which continued at the historical museum, the courthouse, and online. But back to the pictures. The pictures! Hundreds of them; beautiful daguerrotypes, large framed portraits, negatives, photographs in black and white and sepia...an endless array of faces and homes, places and events.

  For years I have pondered how to go about sharing some of these precious images, and have done so in several ways, including taking a few of them to be documented for the San Juan Island Heritage collection. Yet, that was only a small piece of the treasury I have. And so it begins; a blog, where I can share some of these wonderful images. In part, so that others can see and enjoy these historical items, and also in the hope that maybe some of the unlabeled faces and places can be identified. So, I invite you to have a look, to sit back and enjoy the images of days gone by; small pieces of the lives of those who helped shaped this unique island community and this way of life.