❖ VIEWING LUMMI ISLAND ❖ by June Burn

Viewing Lummi Island from Chuckanut Drive,
Bellingham, WA.
Photo by Clyde Banks, undated.
From the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

June Burn published this piece in February 1930, from mail she received from one of her readers on Lummi Island. 

One of the lovely views of which the Lummi Islander writes.
Photo by E.I. Jacobson 
from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

"I would love to tell folks about Lummi Island. On the west one can see the San Juan Islands and Juan de Fuca beyond them. Over this wide strait, our beautiful sunsets that no artist can paint. On the east we can see Mt. Baker robed in white with the waters of Hales Pass and the foothills in between.
      To the north of us lies the Gulf of Georgia, and on clear days, across miles of water, we can see Point Roberts with the Coast Range in the background. The south end of Lummi is mountainous and there people love to spend the day hiking, following trails and climbing through nature's forests. Often they see wild game, that adds to the thrill.
      At night we can see our nearest city of Bellingham all aglow and Chuckanut Drive with the headlights rounding the curves. It is a beautiful sight.

Carlisle Cannery, Lummi Island, WA.
With broadside view of fish tenders moored to
offload salmon catch. Dated 1911.
The bottom photo mailed by Lummi Island's 
Fannie Winslow Granger (1860-1921)
states this view as the boarding house where the
Carlisle Cannery bosses live. (photo undated.)
Click image to enlarge.
Original photos from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

      We have three salmon canneries and six families who are engaged in chicken raising as a business, a blue fox farm, a few large and several small ranches. We have an $18,000 school house and a township hall adjoining it. This hall is used for business meetings, basketball, and dancing. We also have a Congregational Church, the basement being used for a Grange hall.
      Our roads are good graveled roads and are being widened. In summer the traffic is as bad as on the highways. You will wonder at this, but our summer hotels explain it.
      The Hotel Grange was known years ago as Mother Grange's home, and a wonderful place it was to spend happy days. Since her death, the hotel has been run by her son and daughter, the Austins.
      Then comes the Lodge run by Mr. and Mrs. Granger. This hotel can take care of two or three hundred people. Mrs. Granger does the cooking, and talk about fried chicken and all the goodies that go with it! A four-piece orchestra entertains here twice a week. There are dancing, cards, pool, tennis and horseshoe games with a lovely sandy beach close by where marshmallows are toasted at bonfires.
       

"The Willows"
Lummi Island, WA. 
Lower photo of three cabins by Clyde Banks.
Original photos from the archives of the S.P.H.S.© 

From the cozy living room of "The Willows,"
Lummi Island, WA.,
this notation was written on the bottom photocard:
"It was too hot to do anything but lie in the hammock.
Weather is gorgeous."
Both photos by Clyde Banks from the archives of the S.P.H.S.© 

"The Willows", kept by [founders,] Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Taft, is the garden of flowers. Here are a dozen cabins where guests spend the nights, each with flowers of its own, and here every kind of amusement, including a weekly picnic for those who love to spend the day in the beautiful places on Lummi.

Ferry Landing at Beach, Lummi Island,
for the Gooseberry Point route.
The Post Office was officially named Beach
honoring the first Postmaster, Wade H. Beach,
and not changed until 1946.
Two original photos from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

      You can motor to Gooseberry Point and ferry across in about five minutes. The ferry makes nine trips a day, so don't forget the route!"
      Thank you, T.K., for the story. I'll be over on that ferry some of these days just to see one of your sunsets out across de Fuca way! See you tomorrow." June.
Puget Soundings. Feb. 1930
For some history notes about Lummi Island, WA., please click here