“Crow Island”

A “crows nest” of stumps. An unidentified photographic postcard image in our collect that seemed typical of the stumps of the island described in early histories that had to be cleared for farm fields.

When I first started learning about local history here some of the elders of our group often mentioned how Camano Island used to be called “Crow Island.”  It wasn’t that I didn’t believe them, we certainly had our share of treetop raucousness in our woods on the South end of Camano Island.  But I recently found an news article from a June 4, 1920 Stanwood Tidings that mentioned “Crow Island”.  The author was Mr. Gilbert Quale, a Norwegian immigrant whose name is also often spelled Qvale.  His farm was at the intersection of SR 532 and Juniper Beach Road where his historic house still stands

This map (on display at the Eldridge Center Museum – SAHS) shows the property owners of Island County including Mr Quale’s large farm. On the right is Leque Island and the mouth of the Stillaguamish River (West Pass and South Pass).

In the article he described the land clearing efforts of the local farmers: G. W. Hills, Mr. Danielson, Mr Borrison, Jorgen Anderson, Ivar Opdall, Ivan Larson , Peter Wold, Eli Myron.

They blasted the stumps, hauled them to into piles with steam donkeys and plowed the roots out of the ground to clear land for their farms.

After all of his hard work I think he was feeling a bit righteous about his land in the face of some condescension on the part of other farmers on the mainland.  His quote from the article: “Now some of you town people that make fun of “Crow Island,” as you call it, and some of you that are asleep and imagine you are dreaming about stills and moonshine when perhaps pulling crow teeth and blasting stumps, show not be so quick to throw slurs at a neighborhood just because there are a few crows on the Island?

Mr Qvale built this house in about 1923 according to County records. It is one of best preserved historic house and is eligible for the National Historic Register according to a 2006 survey of historic places on the island. It resembles a design of a Sears, Roebuck and Company house.

Gilbert was a community minded soul, he worked to actively promote their of their farm products as one of the original trustees of the Snohomish County Dairyman’s Association in 1917. He was listed as a grocer when he married his wife Amelia Land in 1900 Census and a director of the local Farmer’s Mutual Insurance Co.  He was listed as a dairy farmer at his death in 1943.

Quale Barn on Camano Island (no longer standing)
Photograph by Gerald Magelssen

Our Historical Parks – Hutchison Park, Camano Island

Stanwood and Camano Island have many local parks to enjoy holiday hikes. Almost all of them are historical parks and thanks to many years of interpretation projects, their stories are there to be read.
Our two State Parks plus a few little Island County Parks (Barnum Point, Iverson, English Boom, and Kayak Point on Port Susan are great places to observe wildlife, sunshine and possibly share your memories of the parks and how they were established.

Hutchison Park Camano Island

Hutchison Park, Camano Island

On the South end of Camano Island, the Walter G. Hutchison Park was established in 1979 and is used by neighbors, walkers, and bikers and those who are just on a drive around the island.   It is perhaps our smallest park with a short trail maintained by local volunteers and we know very little about it.  It is located at 3227 South East Camano Drive.

We have been looking into more information to properly document its history and will update this story when we can.  Contact us if you know more information.
Now it has a new feature, it’s own little library in a telephone booth managed by our park volunteers.

Walter G Hutchinson plaque dated 1979.

Walter G Hutchinson plaque dated 1979.

Click to see larger image

 

Little Library in the telephone booth, South End Camano Island

Little Library in the telephone booth, South End Camano Island – Update – Though the Phone booth is still there the library has been discontinued due to vandalism.  The phone booth was installed by a mystery person back in 2018.

 

 

Historic view of Leque Island which is now flooded

Leque Island from bridge to Camano Island over the Ovenell Farm. Snow geese are in the distance. circa 2003

Until the last few weeks if you looked south while driving over the bridge from Stanwood to Leque Island you saw what were once the farms of the Eide, Leque and Smith families.  The island was formed when these farmers came to Stanwood in the late 19th century.  They created the island by diking the wetlands at the mouth of the Stillaguamish River where it forked towards Port Susan to the south and Skagit Bay to the West.  Diking created farmland to grow their hay, oats and wheat.

This view looked over West Pass of the Stillaguamish River toward what was Leque Island.  Dikes that surrounded the “island” were removed this month. Now the island is flooded and there is a raised dike on the North side recently reinforced to protect Stanwood from high tides. The Eide House was still there at the time of the photograph (2003) with snow geese in the background.  Farming became impractical and in the 1990s the families sold their farms to the Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.  For a history of Leque Island read here.

Field of Giant Cabbages !

 

Lots of Cole Slaw!

For those who are eating from their gardens right now, we thought we would share this snapshot from our collection.  The writing on the back says “Mrs. Lund friend of Grandma’s who lived in Stanwood Wash”  Her first name was thought to be Agnes.

Not sure how you would even cut it up!

If you know who this might be, let us know!

 

Historical Newspaper offices in Stanwood

Stanwood newspapers were challenged by the renaming of the town(s) it served over the last century. Originally the Stanwood Press, it was also known as the Twin City News and finally the Stanwood Camano News. Until recently it was locally owned but is now part of large of conglomerate of small newspaper companies all over the country.

Its first news office was typical of 19th century storefronts, this one located on Main Street. In front is Attorney Mitchell who published the paper until the early 1910s when it was taken over by “Olsen and [George] Astel”  and later Loren Angevine who owned it until 1930 with G. F. Brown.

In 1931 Brown took over and it was renamed the Twin City News.
In 1939 Brown sold to Horn and Dence who owned it until 1958 when Cliff Danielson took it over in 1958 and who renamed the newspaper the Stanwood
News again.

Stanwood News office building 1920s - 1976

Stanwood News office building 1920s – 1976

 

In 1960 with the consolidation of the towns it was renamed the Stanwood News.  In 1980 it became the Stanwood Camano News.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remembrance

Recently and just in time for Memorial Day, the Camano Lutheran Cemetery Board  commissioned a new monument at its entry. The old sign had finally deteriorated beyond  saving or fixing, road improvements needed to be made and new landscaping and plantings were added.  Cemetery Board members are a group of four volunteers who manage burials as well as all improvements and documentation such places require.

Camano Lutheran Cemetery, East Camano Dr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The improvements were funded through many donations of time and money by community members and with assistance from the Washington State Historic Cemetery Grant Program.  For a complete list of contributors and more details about the extent of the project, please see this pdf of the report CamanoLutheranCemetery 2019.  The Camano Lutheran Cemetery is located on a hillside and is a quiet place for contemplation and solace.  You may visit any time and tours will be given during the Stanwood Camano Historic Sites tour on Sept 19.