Saturday, January 7, 2017

Shaw Island School - 127 Years of Education

I had a pleasant trip to Shaw Island for a couple of projects. Rather splendid weather for the trip. The ferry ride in the early morning was bumpy with a hard northeast wind frothing the water and keeping the ferry tilted a bit, but once south of Orcas Island and its mountains there was no wind.
  

Shaw Island has a small school. For many years the school was a one-room set up, but the school has had an addition and modifications in recent years. The modifications have been sensitive to the original structure. The building and site are listed on the National Register Historic Places (NRHP).

The school site has been in use since 1890 and is indicate on the 1895 T sheet map.


A striking feature of the T sheet map is that the area around the school has changed very little. The school site is still surrounded by forest. A small island library and historic museum are located across the street.

Shaw Island Library and Historical Museum

The museum and library were not open on the day of my visit, but are open most week days according to the sign on the library door. 

On this part of the island, the early homestead period appearance still prevails although slow changes continue to take place. In particular the farming activity is much less than it once was and the forest is going through changes as well.
 

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