Blakely Island: A History
Blakely Island provides an immersive experience. Here is the timeline of how it became a place for Seattle Pacific students to be in nature.
1592: Juan De Fuca, potentially the first explorer of the San Juans, sails through the Sound
1791: Spaniard Francisco Eliza sends his first Pilot, Juan Pantoja y Arriago, to explore the Haro Strait and the Gulf Islands, but his boat is forced southward by the wind toward the Rosario Strait
May 18th, 1791: Captain George Vancouver navigates the San Juan Islands.
1841: Charles Wilkes discovers Blakely Island, named after naval commander Johnston Blakely
1850: Paul K Hubbs jr. moves to Blakely, becoming the first property owner
February 1862: Edward C. Gillette arrives on the island as a surveyor and later becomes the superintendent of San Juan County Schools
Thatcher Bay Mill (Photo: Blakely Archives)
March 16th, 1867: Isabelle Reed is born, the first known child born on the island.
1874: Gillette moves to the island to raise Sheep
1879: Thatcher Bay Mill is started
1889: Gillette sells his land to Richard H. Staub, who becomes the teacher at the Blakely Island School, succeeding John Vierick
1889: Harrison Coffielt finishes the school, and the first class is held
1892: Theodore Spencer buys the mill and box factory, renaming it Spencer Mill
1900: Mineral exploration begins at Bald Bluff
1922: The State Game Commission placed elk on Blakely Island, but they eventually died off
1929: Logging operations stop
1942: Mill ends operations
1946: The Spencer family sells mill and island holdings to Dr. Lloyd W. Hines and his wife, Margaret
January 1948: Blakely Island Airport activated
June 1st, 1949: Blakely Island School stops operating
July 1st,, 1954: Floyd Johnson purchased the entire Island from Hines
May 10th, 1956: Harold Bartram and Floyd Johnson enter into a partnership to develop Blakely
March 15th, 1957: Hines sells interest to Johnson
August 27th, 1957: Floyd Johnson sells part of the island to the Puget Sound Pulp & Timber Company of Bellingham
1962: Blakely Marina renovated
1965: Thatcher Bay post office destroyed by Spencer Lake washout
May 27th, 1975: Tom Cowley and David Syre entered into a partnership for a conservation easement for tax-saving purposes
December 1975: Gordon Plume designed the first building that SPU would use
1976: Seattle Pacific University comes to the Island
1978: The first-weekend class is held on the island
1980s: SPU begins holding summer classes
September 1st, 1983: Dr. Ross and wife move into living Quarters
February 1984: The Thomas B. Cowley Laboratory is completed
1993: 50% of the island was placed in trust
1996: Dr. Shaw retires, Leroy Hubbert becomes campus manager, and Bruce Congdon takes charge of school courses
1995: Bruce Congdon becomes director of Field Station
2010: 80 more acres placed into trust
2014: The Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group dredged Thatcher Bay, and restoration of marine life has begun.
2018: The Hubberts retire from being caretakers at the Field Station
2018: Journalism students accompany biology professors Elena Bresynski, Eric Long, Tim Nelson (current director), Bruce Congdon, and Blaine Craft for the first time
2022: Deb and Brian Rodda take over as caretakers
2024: A second set of SPU journalism students join biology classes to Blakely
