Anderson Island is the southernmost island in Puget Sound and a census-designated place of Pierce County, Washington, United States. It is accessible by boat or a 20-minute ferry ride from Steilacoom. Anderson Island is just south of McNeil Island. To the northwest, Key Peninsula is across Drayton Passage. The south basin of Puget Sound separates the island from the mainland to the southeast, while to the southwest the Nisqually Reach of Puget Sound separates the island from the mainland.
Anderson Island has a land area of 7.75 square miles (20.1 km2), and reported a population of 1,302 people as of the 2020 census, [1] which is up from 1,037 people at the 2010 census. The island has been a retirement destination since the late 1960s, with a median age of 54 years (for comparison, the median age of Washington state as a whole is 37 years). [2] [3] The population booms every summer to approximately 4,000. The Island is also home to a sizable population of deer.
The island was part of the territory of the Steilacoom people, a Coast Salish tribe. [4]
The island was named in 1841 by Charles Wilkes of the United States Exploring Expedition. Given a warm reception at Fort Nisqually by Mr. Anderson and Captain McNeill, and assistance to aid his operations, Wilkes repaid their kindness by naming the two nearby islands after these two men.
In 1870, Andrew N. Christensen, a Dane, and his brother, Christian F. Christensen, were the first European settlers to stay at the island. Andrew's wife had a strong hand in the development of the island community. Christian was the only Christensen brother to reside permanently on Anderson Island. The primary industry was the sale of wood to the wood-burning steamers that came into Amsterdam Bay. Other early industries included brick making, farming and fishing.
The only General Store on the island is run by a local resident of the island.
In 2004, National Recreational Properties, Inc. of Irvine, California purchased more than 400 vacant lots on the island, paying roughly $4,000 to $7,000 per lot. They created an infomercial and sold to out-of-state investors, mostly from California. Residents speculated that the lots would be sold for about $25,000. [5] Eventually more than 300 lots were sold, most selling for over $40,000.
Accessible only by ferry or private boat, Anderson Island is served by the Steilacoom / Anderson Island / Ketron Island run, the only ferry run belonging to Pierce County. [6] The ferry Steilacoom II was put into service in January 2007 to work with the aging ferry Christine Anderson. The ferry runs many times per day, starting at 4:45 in the morning from Steilacoom, Washington, and departing Anderson Island at 10:50 pm. [7] In 2020, Anderson Island Citizen Advisory Board worked with Pierce County to extend the hours to accommodate the ever increasing need for additional ferry service. Prior to then, Sunday through Thursday service ended at 8:40 p.m. During peak times such as summer and holidays, both ferries run. However the wait to get on the ferry can often still exceed three or more hours for special events and weekends.
The Anderson Island Citizens Advisory Board (AICAB) is a governing advisory board reporting to the Pierce County Council, established by the Pierce County Council in 2004. Examples of its past actions include banning of boats with internal combustion engines from Lake Josephine, road repair and speed recommendations, as well as other matters common to governing Anderson Island. [8]
Fire District #27 and the Anderson Island Parks District are taxing districts that serve only Anderson Island. [9]
Tanner Electric Co-op provides electrical power to Anderson Island via a submarine cable. It extends across Nisqually Reach on the south end of the island and was replaced in 2010. [10]
Law enforcement is provided by the Pierce County Sheriff's office.
The Steilacoom Historical School District serves Anderson Island. [11] Children in grades PreK–3 attend school on the island, while children in grades 4–12 commute to the mainland each day. The Anderson Island School is designated a "remote and necessary" school by the State of Washington, and is one of the few remaining such schools in the state.
Steilacoom High School is the comprehensive high school of the district.
The Island Sounder, published by the Anderson Island Association, is the island's monthly newsletter. The News Tribune from Tacoma is available to subscribers.
In the movie WarGames , the scenes where David Lightman and Jennifer Mack meet Dr. Stephen Falken in Goose Island, Oregon were filmed at Anderson Island. [12]
Heckman, Hazel, Island in the Sound, University of Washington Press (1967). Drawings by Helen Hiatt.
Heckman, Hazel, Island Year, University of Washington Press (1972). Drawings by Laurie Olin.
Pierce County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 921,130, up from 795,225 in 2010, making it the second-most populous county in Washington, behind King County, and the 59th-most populous in the United States. The county seat and largest city is Tacoma. Formed out of Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the legislature of Oregon Territory, it was named for U.S. President Franklin Pierce. Pierce County is in the Seattle metropolitan area.
Des Moines is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 32,888 as of the 2020 census. The city is located on the east shore of Puget Sound, near the center of the Seattle metropolitan area. It is bordered by the suburbs of Federal Way to the south, Kent to the east, SeaTac to the northeast, Burien to the north, and Normandy Park to the northwest.
DuPont is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,151 at the 2020 census. Originally a company town, the city is named after the DuPont chemical company which operated an explosives manufacturing plant in the area from 1909 to 1975.
Fox Island is an island and census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington, United States, in Puget Sound. It is located approximately 5 miles (8 km) from Gig Harbor. The island was named Fox by Charles Wilkes during the United States Exploring Expedition, to honor J.L. Fox, an assistant surgeon on the expedition. The population was 3,921 at the 2020 census, up from 3,633 at the 2010 census.
Lakewood is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 63,612 at the 2020 census.
Midland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington. The population was 9,962 at the time of the 2020 census.
Steilacoom is a town in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 6,727 at the 2020 census. Steilacoom incorporated in 1854 and became the first incorporated town in what is now the state of Washington. It has also become a bedroom community for service members stationed at Joint Base Lewis–McChord, aka McChord AFB and Fort Lewis.
The Nisqually are a Lushootseed-speaking Native American tribe in western Washington state in the United States. They are a Southern Coast Salish people. They are federally recognized as the Nisqually Indian Tribe, formerly known as the Nisqually Indian Tribe of the Nisqually Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation.
McNeil Island is an island in the northwest United States in south Puget Sound, located southwest of Tacoma, Washington. With a land area of 6.63 square miles (17.2 km2), it lies in an area of many small, inhabited islands including Anderson Island to the south across Balch Passage; Fox Island to the north, across Carr Inlet, and to the west, separated from Key Peninsula by Pitt Passage. The Washington mainland lies to the east, across the south basin of Puget Sound.
The Key Peninsula lies along Puget Sound to the south of Kitsap Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of Pierce County and is bordered to the west by Case Inlet and to the east by Carr Inlet. The peninsula is approximately 16 miles (26 km) long and has two Washington State Parks.
The Puget Sound War was an armed conflict that took place in the Puget Sound area of the state of Washington in 1855–56, between the United States military, local militias and members of the Native American tribes of the Nisqually, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, and Klickitat. Another component of the war, however, were raiders from the Haida and Tlingit who came into conflict with the United States Navy during contemporaneous raids on the native peoples of Puget Sound. Although limited in its magnitude, territorial impact and losses in terms of lives, the conflict is often remembered in connection to the 1856 Battle of Seattle and to the execution of a central figure of the war, Nisqually Chief Leschi. The contemporaneous Yakima War may have been responsible for some events of the Puget Sound War, such as the Battle of Seattle, and it is not clear that the people of the time made a strong distinction between the two conflicts.
Herron Island is an island in central Case Inlet in the southern part of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The Pierce County island has a land area of 1.2326 km2 and a population of 151 persons as of the 2010 census.
The U.S. state of Washington is home to a number of public and private ferry systems, most notably the state-run Washington State Ferries.
The Puget Sound region is a coastal area of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. state of Washington, including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountains. It is characterized by a complex array of saltwater bays, islands, and peninsulas carved out by prehistoric glaciers.
The Steilacoom–Anderson Island ferry is a ferry route in southern Puget Sound which is owned and operated by Pierce County, Washington. The route also serves Ketron Island.
Ketron Island is an island and a census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The island had a population of 24 persons according to the 2000 census, and 17 persons at the 2010 census.
Steilacoom Historical School District No. 1 is a public school district in Steilacoom, Washington, United States. It serves the city of Steilacoom, the communities of DuPont and Anderson Island, and portions of Lakewood and unincorporated Pierce County.
The Steilacoompeople are Lushootseed-speaking Southern Coast Salish people, indigenous to the southern Puget Sound region of Washington state.
South Puget Sound is the southern reaches of Puget Sound in Southwest Washington, in the United States' Pacific Northwest. It is one of five major basins encompassing the entire Sound, and the shallowest basin, with a mean depth of 37 meters (121 ft). Exact definitions of the region vary: the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife counts all of Puget Sound south of the Tacoma Narrows for fishing regulatory purposes. The same agency counts Mason, Jefferson, Kitsap, Pierce and Thurston Counties for wildlife management. The state's Department of Ecology defines a similar area south of Colvos Passage.
The Nisqually Reach is a portion of Puget Sound south of the Tacoma Narrows, near the Nisqually River delta. It is classified as a bay by the United States government. It was originally defined as "the portion of the Sound lying between Anderson Island and the mainland".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), Tanner Electric
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