Local guide

Vashon Island: 7,000 years of history.

Vashon Island sits across Colvos Passage from Olalla Bay, close enough to see from the house on a clear day. The island has been inhabited for more than 7,000 years. The story runs from Coast Salish villages through logging and strawberry farms, through forced removal and internment, through shipbuilding and a ferry rebellion, to the arts community that lives there today. Vashon is the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet, 37 square miles, with no bridges. You get there by ferry or by private boat, and that isolation has shaped everything about it.

This is the story of the island you can see from Olalla Bay.

Written by Assaf, the Olalla Bay editor. Updated October 2026.

The first people: S'Homamish and Coast Salish

People have lived on Vashon Island for more than 7,000 years. Archaeological evidence shows human activity on the island dating back 10,000 to 12,000 years. The Marpole people lived here about 7,000 years ago, followed by Salish peoples about 1,000 years ago, and then the S'Homamish starting about 500 years ago.

The S'Homamish (in Lushootseed, sx̌ʷəbabš, meaning swift water people) were a Coast Salish people whose territory covered southern Vashon Island, Maury Island, the Tacoma Narrows, and the coastline west to Carr Inlet. Their main village was at txʷaalqəɬ, meaning place where deer exists, at what is now Gig Harbor. They had villages on Vashon Island as well: one called sx̌alucid at the head of Wollochet Bay, and another on Quartermaster Harbor. The Suquamish people held the west side of Puget Sound from Hood Canal to Vashon Island, including Bainbridge Island and Blake Island.

At low tide, Vashon and Maury were connected by a tidal flat, creating a gathering site for Native people. The portage between the two islands was a place where people came together to fish, hunt, and trade. The rich marine resources of Quartermaster Harbor and Colvos Passage sustained the villages: salmon, shellfish, herring, and waterfowl.

In 1855 and 1856, the S'Homamish people were interned at Fox Island. The Treaty of Point Elliott, signed on January 22, 1855, at what is now Mukilteo, ceded much of the region to the United States. By 1856, the island's Native population had been dispersed to reservations. The land they had inhabited for thousands of years was opened to settlers.

Vancouver names the island: 1792

Captain George Vancouver was the first non-Native to explore and map Vashon as part of the 1792 Royal British Navy survey of Puget Sound. On May 28, 1792, he named the island after his friend Captain James Vashon of the Royal Navy. The smaller Maury Island to the southeast was named in 1841 by Lt. Charles Wilkes of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, after William Lewis Maury, an officer in the expedition.

Starting in 1824, different explorer and settler groups stayed on Vashon Island. The first logging on the island began in 1852. European-Americans settled Vashon Island between 1865 and 1890. During that time, the main economies on the island were fishing and logging. The island's forests supplied timber to a growing Puget Sound, and its shoreline communities grew up around boat transportation, since boats were the only way to get around.

In 1892, Vashon College opened in the Burton section of Vashon. During its operation, it was one of the leading colleges in the area. It burned down in 1910. The Burton community, on the east shore of the island, was one of the early settlements, along with Dockton on Maury Island.

Strawberries and the Japanese-American community: 1890 to 1942

In 1890, Japanese Americans started growing strawberries for sale on Vashon Island. The island's glacial soil, with good drainage, was well suited to berries. Strawberry plants take several years to reach full production, so families rotated crops and diversified with loganberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants, and cherries. During harvest, early morning picks went to wooden flats and shipped onto ferries to markets like Seattle's Pike Place Market, which opened in 1912. Later picks went to the canners, for preserves or freezing.

The Mukai family became the most prominent strawberry family on the island. In 1910, B.D. (Denichiro) Mukai and his wife Sato moved to Vashon Island and began strawberry farming. From 1910 to 1926, the family leased land and established the Mukai Cold Process Fruit Barreling Plant. The cold process method concentrated flavor and moisture in the fruit and permitted long-distance shipping. In time, the Mukai family's oak barrels became prized by ice cream, jam, and preserve makers across the West.

In 1921, the Washington State Legislature adopted the Alien Land Law, which barred Japanese immigrants from owning property. In 1926, the Mukai family purchased 40 acres of land at the center of the island under the name of their 15-year-old son, Masa Mukai. As an American-born citizen, Masa could own land. With the purchase, the family built a large fruit barreling plant in 1927. In 1928, they built a new home, which Kuni Mukai (B.D.'s second wife, after Sato died in 1921) surrounded with a formal Japanese stroll garden.

Throughout the Great Depression, the farm continued to prosper. It employed over 400 workers annually to pack and ship 200 tons of strawberries. A bunkhouse housed 250 of the workers. In 1934, B.D. retired and returned to Japan, and Masa Mukai took over the family business. In 1939, with anti-Japanese sentiment increasing throughout the United States and Washington, Masa changed the name of the business to the Vashon Island Packing Company.

Internment and loss: 1942

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which ordered the internment of Japanese immigrants and their descendants, regardless of American citizenship status or length of residence. The order affected all Japanese Americans living west of the Columbia River.

Every Japanese family on Vashon Island, excepting the Mukais, was given two weeks notice that they would be interned. In May 1942, families gathered at the Island Club in Vashon town, each person carrying a suitcase or two. They left by jeeps to a special ferry, which took them to Seattle, where they boarded trains headed for the Pinedale Assembly Center and then Tule Lake in northern California, and eventually other camps in Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah. More than two thirds of those interned were Nisei, American citizens.

The Mukai family fled Vashon Island to Dead Ox Flat, Oregon, rather than report for internment. While exiled in Oregon, Masa introduced row crops into what was then primarily cattle country. He raised seed for lettuce and other vegetables on 100 acres he purchased, and invented his own harvester to catch flyaway seeds.

Many Japanese-American families struggled to arrange for their belongings and property in a matter of days. A few arranged caretakers. Not all farms were responsibly managed, and some could not keep up with taxes, land management, and harvest during the war. Land was lost. In certain areas like Dockton, a significant amount of private property was occupied and subsequently seized from Japanese-American citizens who farmed strawberries on that land until World War II.

The island's Japanese-American community never fully returned. The strawberry industry that had defined Vashon for fifty years faded. The island continues to hold a Strawberry Festival every July, founded in 1909, when strawberry farms were all over the island's landscape. The festival keeps the memory of that era alive, with a parade, strawberry shortcake, live music, and artist booths.

The Mukai Farm and Garden, preserved at the center of the island, tells this story. The farm, barreling plant, and Japanese stroll garden are maintained as a historic site. A road on Vashon Island was named to honor the Mukai family.

Shipbuilding at Dockton: 1904 to 1974

While strawberries grew on the island's farms, ships were built on its shores. Dockton, a settlement on Maury Island along Quartermaster Harbor, became one of the first major settlements of the conjoined islands and an important shipbuilding center around the turn of the century. Croatian and Norwegian immigrants settled Dockton, bringing shipbuilding skills with them.

The Martinolich Shipbuilding Company was founded in the early 1900s by John Martinolich (1877 to 1960), an immigrant from Croatia. The company's original shipyard was at Dockton. It was active from 1904 to 1974 and built many vessels. Among the earlier vessels were the wooden propeller steamers Vashon (1905), Verona (1910), Nisqually (1911), Calista (1911), Florence J. (1914), and the ferry Whidby (1923). The Vashon, built in 1905, was the first steamboat constructed by the Martinolich yard. It was built for the Vashon Navigation Company, which operated steamboats on Puget Sound in the early 1900s.

Dockton had the largest dry dock on the West Coast. The Dockton Hotel, built in 1917 to house employees of Martinolich's shipyard, was a two-and-a-half-story wood structure. After World War I, shipyard business declined and the building was sold to be used as a school. It served as the community's elementary school for 20 years, then became a berry cannery, a private residence, and finally stood vacant. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. By 2008, the building had collapsed.

The Dockton Historical Interpretive Trail, created by the community of Dockton, provides a one-mile signed walk through the town's history. It gives visitors an appreciation of the town's settlement and the sites of its former school, hotel, general store, post office, and dry dock. Dockton today is a quiet waterfront community, facing the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve, which includes over 5,500 acres of state-owned tidelands and aquatic bedlands in Quartermaster Harbor, including all known Quartermaster Harbor herring spawning grounds.

The ferry rebellion: 1948 to 1951

Vashon Islanders have always been fiercely independent, and nowhere is that clearer than in the ferry rebellion of 1948.

On February 29, 1948, Captain Alexander Peabody, president of the Puget Sound Navigation Company (the Black Ball Line), shut down his ferry system after talks broke down with the state government over his request for a fare increase. Peabody, who had kept his rates unchanged during World War II, wanted to raise fares by 30 percent after the war. Commuters balked, concerned about Peabody's near-monopolistic control of this vital Puget Sound transportation link.

The day after the shutdown, residents of Vashon Island responded by starting their own ferry service. Islanders were very dependent on ferry travel, and had to scramble a year earlier when a maritime strike shut down Black Ball operations for six days. At that time, people on Vashon gathered up whatever boats they could, from pleasure craft to military landing craft. This time, they used a passenger boat to take people to and from the south end of the island and borrowed an old Lake Washington ferry from King County, which they patched up to make operational on Puget Sound.

Peabody's shutdown ended after nine days, but the islanders, who had an effigy of the captain hanging from the ferry landing, refused to make a new agreement with the Black Ball Line and continued operating their own ragtag fleet. On May 15, Captain Peabody made an attempt to regain his service to the island when he scheduled the ferry Illahee to land at the Vashon dock. Defenders of the upstart ferry system wielded ax handles and pool cues to prevent the boat from mooring. The vigilantes won their battle, and Vashoners continued to operate their own ferries until June 1, 1951.

The rebellion ended when Washington State took over the ferry system, creating what is now Washington State Ferries. The islanders' defiance helped push the state to act. Today, Washington State Ferries runs the routes to Vashon, and the island still has no bridges.

From farms to arts community: post-war to today

After the war, Vashon Island transitioned from an agricultural center to a residential and artistic community. In 1916, island residents had built an artificial isthmus, permanently connecting Vashon and Maury Islands and officially linking their names. The hyphenated island, Vashon-Maury, is now one landmass of 37 square miles.

While orchards and strawberry farms formerly played a major role in the Vashon economy, the pressures of suburban residential development have all but eliminated any major commercial agriculture on the island. Many small farms operate on the island, providing locals with fresh organic produce, milk, and eggs. The island's economy is now heavily based on residents commuting to Seattle and Tacoma. At the same time, the island has become known as a haven for artists, farmers, and ferry commuters who prefer both its rural lifestyle and the isolation of its ferry-only accessibility.

The island's economy took hits in recent years when it lost two major industrial employers: K2 Sports moved its manufacturing to China, and the Seattle's Best Coffee roastery operation closed shortly after Starbucks bought the company. Currently, the largest manufacturer on Vashon is Pacific Research Laboratories, locally referred to as The Bone Factory.

Camp Sealth, on the island, is the oldest and largest camp on the West Coast. The island hosts a Strawberry Festival every July, a Sheepdog Classic herding championship in September, and year-round arts events. The Vashon Center for the Arts, galleries, and studios anchor the island's cultural life. Point Robinson Lighthouse, at the island's northeast point, stands as a landmark. The island is home to hundreds of bird species, and its waters draw orcas, Dall's porpoises, otters, and divers seeking Giant Pacific octopus.

Vashon Island today is a place where history is visible: in the Mukai Farm and Garden, in the Dockton trail, in the ferry landings, and in the farms that still grow food on glacial soil. The island's story is one of deep roots, forced displacement, stubborn independence, and reinvention.

Historic sites to visit today

Mukai Farm and Garden. The preserved Mukai family farm, barreling plant, and Japanese stroll garden at the center of the island. The site tells the story of the island's Japanese-American community and the strawberry industry. Check current hours before visiting.

Dockton Historical Interpretive Trail. A one-mile signed walk through the former shipbuilding town on Maury Island. The trail covers the sites of the school, hotel, general store, post office, and dry dock. Start at Dockton Park.

Point Robinson Lighthouse. The lighthouse at the island's northeast point, on the shore of East Passage. The surrounding park hosts events, including a kite day in May. The lighthouse is a landmark for boaters and a destination for day trips.

Burton. The early settlement on the east shore, where Vashon College once stood. The Burton area retains a quiet, historic character.

Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Association. The association maintains archives and exhibits on the island's history. It is a resource for anyone researching Vashon families, farms, or businesses.

Getting to Vashon from Olalla Bay

Vashon Island is across Colvos Passage from Olalla Bay. On a clear day, you can see it from the house. There are no bridges to the island. You get there by ferry or private boat.

By ferry: Drive to the Southworth ferry terminal and take Washington State Ferries to Vashon. The ferry runs between Southworth, Vashon, and Fauntleroy in West Seattle. Check current Washington State Ferries schedules before going, as times vary by season and day of week. The crossing from Southworth to Vashon is short.

By water taxi: The King County Water Taxi runs between Pier 50 in downtown Seattle and the Vashon Ferry Terminal on a regular schedule, with additional service during the Strawberry Festival.

What to do: Vashon is a day trip from Olalla Bay. Drive on, or walk on and use the island's bus service. The island is 37 square miles, so a car helps if you want to see Dockton, Point Robinson, and the Mukai Farm in one day. If you walk on, focus on the town of Vashon and the nearby sites.

Questions people ask

Who were the first people on Vashon Island?

Coast Salish peoples have lived on Vashon Island for more than 7,000 years. The S'Homamish people, whose territory covered southern Vashon Island, Maury Island, the Tacoma Narrows, and Gig Harbor, were the most recent Indigenous inhabitants before European contact. Their main village was at what is now Gig Harbor, with villages on Vashon Island at Wollochet Bay and Quartermaster Harbor.

How did Vashon Island get its name?

Captain George Vancouver named the island on May 28, 1792, during the Royal British Navy survey of Puget Sound. He named it after his friend Captain James Vashon of the Royal Navy. The smaller Maury Island to the southeast was named in 1841 by Lt. Charles Wilkes of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, after William Lewis Maury.

What happened to the Japanese-American community on Vashon Island?

Japanese-American families built Vashon Island's strawberry industry starting in 1890. After Executive Order 9066 was signed on February 19, 1942, every Japanese family on Vashon Island except the Mukai family was given two weeks notice and forced into internment camps. Most went to the Puyallup Fairgrounds, then to Pinedale Assembly Center and Tule Lake in California, and later to camps in Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah. More than two thirds of those interned were Nisei, American citizens.

How do you get to Vashon Island from Olalla Bay?

Vashon Island is across Colvos Passage from Olalla Bay, visible from the house. There are no bridges. Drive to the Southworth ferry terminal and take Washington State Ferries to Vashon. The ferry runs between Southworth, Vashon, and Fauntleroy in West Seattle. Check current Washington State Ferries schedules before going.

What historic sites can you visit on Vashon Island?

The Mukai Farm and Garden preserves the Mukai family farm, barreling plant, and Japanese stroll garden. The Dockton Historical Interpretive Trail is a one-mile signed walk through the former shipbuilding town. Point Robinson Lighthouse stands at the island's northeast point. The Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Association maintains archives and exhibits.