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'Friday Harbor' is a town in San Juan County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,989 at the 2000 census. Located on San Juan Island, it is the major commercial center of the San Juan Islands archipelago. It is the county seat of San Juan County.

Contents

History

Geography

Transportation

Education

Demographics

Sister City

Gallery

See also

References

External links

History

In 1845 the Hudson Bay Company laid claim to San Juan Island. In 1850 they built a salmon curing station. A few years later they started a sheep farm.^[1]
The harbor gots its name from Joseph Poalie (Poalima?) Friday, a Kanaka - a native Hawaiian man who worked at the Hudson's Bay Company's Cowlitz farm from 1841 to 1859-60. He moved north to San Juan Island and raised sheep around the harbor.^[2]
After the peaceful settlement of the Pig War, the islands became a separate county in 1873. Friday Harbor was named the county seat of San Juan County.^[3]
Friday Harbor was officially incorporated on February 10, 1909. It is the only incorporated town in the San Juan Islands.^[4]
Sailing ships - later steamships - came in and out of the harbor of a regular basis, hauling passengers, mail and freight. They took the island's bounty: apples, pears, cherries, strawberries, peas, cream, eggs, chickens, grain, salmon, and lime.
The Great Depression, World War II, the pea weevil, and competition from Eastern Washington growers brought about the decline of traditional island industries. Friday Harbor's fortunes declined with them.
The 1960's brought new industries - tourism, retirement, real estate, construction - began to take hold. Today, Friday Harbor is again busy and prosperous.

Geography

Friday Harbor is located at (48.535260, -123.031055).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.7 km² (1.4 mi²). 3.5 km² (1.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (4.93%) is water.

Transportation

Friday Harbor's primary connection to the mainland is via Washington State Ferries, which sails between the town and Anacortes, Washington several times per day, and the Friday Harbor Airport, which has limited airline service. Friday Harbor is also served by float plane.^[5]
On the island, there are taxis, shuttles, bicycles and mopeds for rent.

Education

The town of Friday Harbor houses world famous Marine Biology laboratory, Friday Harbor Laboratories affiliated to University of Washington. The town has six schools, Friday Harbor High School, Friday Harbor Middle School and Friday Harbor Elementary School that are part of the San Juan Island School District, the Paidea school (private) and Spring Street School (private). Also on the island is a branch of Skagit Valley Community College. The school district also includes the small Stuart Island School that was established in 1897 and is one of Washington's "remote and necessary" schools.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,989 people, 896 households, and 468 families residing in the town. The population density was 564.7/km² (1,467.7/mi²). There were 1,053 housing units at an average density of 298.9/km² (777.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 92.01% White, 0.65% African American, 1.31% Native American, 1.41% Asian, 0.20% Pacific Islander, 2.61% from other races, and 1.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.23% of the population.
There were 896 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.6% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.7% were non-families. 38.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 84.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $35,139, and the median income for a family was $45,208. Males had a median income of $35,625 versus $24,741 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,792. About 7.7% of families and 12.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.

Sister City

Friday Harbor has the following sister city, according to ^[6]

★ Terschelling, Netherlands

Gallery

		A Smerinthus cerisyi moth found in Friday Harbor

See also

San Juan County, Washington

References

1. History and stories of Friday Harbor
2. Who is Friday Harbor Named After Anyway?
3. A brief history of Friday Harbor
4. Voluntarily preserving Friday Harbor's history
5. Catch the Whale Plane to San Juan Island!
6. Sister Relationships

External links

★ Friday Harbor and San Juan Island Web Directory / Information

★ Friday Harbor Bed and Breakfast Lodging and Travel Resources

★ Friday Harbor Lodging, Travel and Information

★ Live images of Friday Harbor

★ Washington State Ferries Anacortes / San Juan Schedule