All About Eastsound, WA
(Orcas Island)
- by Jodie Vinson
Eastsound is located on the largest of the San Juan Islands, Orcas Island, between its topographical "saddlebags", and is heavily populated for its ideal location on the water. Residents enjoy the services as several local businesses including a grocery, natural food store, hardware store, pharmacy and airport. In addition the town is host to many gift shops and restaurants serving the many visitors who come to participate in the recreational activities and restful environment of the island.
Eastbound is the seat of island history with its Orcas Island Historical Museum, serving the community with exhibitions, research assistance, and even an annual Historical Day Fair. Here visitors can learn of the island's earliest residents and European settlers who followed the native Lummi tribe. Although the island is a popular place from which to spot whales, the name does not derive from the orca whale, but rather from a shortened form of the name of one of its first explorers, Juan Vicente de Guemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo. More intriguing facts about the island's settlement in the 1850's and its natural history are explored through the museum's exhibits and displays. After learning of its past, experience the resources of the present by taking advantage of the ample waterfront activities of Eastsound.
Community Links:
(See Community Links for "Orcas Island")
