Historic Sites Tour: Camano City Schoolhouse
The following text is from one of the two main signs (the image on the left below)
CAMANO CITY SCHOOLHOUSE & COMMUNITY HALL HISTORY
The Camano City School District #18 was formed in 1903. This classic example of that era’s “One-Room Schoolhouse” was built around 1905 to serve the children of the surrounding community of about 300 families. The land was deeded to the school district, for just $1, in 1911 by Camano Land and Lumber Company, which employed many Camano City residents in varied aspects of local timber work.
The school’s first teacher was Maude Hayden from the farm country of Iowa, who made the long, cross-country rail trip westward to Seattle, followed by “a very scary boat ride” to Camano Island. Archives reveal her salary was $40 per month. In addition to regular classes, the school house was often used as an informal community gathering place for a variety of public meetings and events.
In 1936, Camano Island and Stanwood School Districts were consolidated and the Camano schoolhouse transitioned to very frequent use as the Camano City Community Hall. It served thereafter as a polling place, courthouse, and venue for frequent community meetings, celebrations, and entertainment. The “Camano Sparklers” women’s auxiliary of Fire District #1 became the building’s manager.
In December 2012, the Camano Schoolhouse Foundation (CSF) purchased the building and half acre site from Camano Fire and Rescue District #1. CSF will manage, rent, and preserve this historic symbol of Camano’s past as a distinctive and vibrant public gathering place for a diverse range of educational and entertaining community events and family celebrations.
The following text is from the second of the two main signs (the image on the right above)
HISTORY OF CAMANO/CAMANO CITY (Early records often interchanged these place names)
In 1898 the Esary brothers, with assistance from Porter Garrison and sons, established one of Camano’s major logging companies in the area surrounding the schoolhouse. They also collaborated as landowners and developers.
From 1908 to 1910 the Camano Commercial Company operated a narrow-gauge logging railway that climbed the hill along the north side of nearby Chapman Creek.
Between 1900 and 1910 local entrepreneurs touted “Camano” as a growing, vibrant “metropolis” with unlimited potential. An inland acre sold for $20 to $40. A waterfront acre sold for $75.
When the schoolhouse was built around 1905, Camano City was a thriving community with two hotels, a general store, a post office, a blacksmith, several shingle mills, a boatyard, and the Saratoga Passage wharf. A variety of “steamers” provided frequent ferry services west to Whidbey, south to Seattle, to points north on Camano Island, and along the Skagit River.
But by 1927, the Camano Commercial Company had dissolved and dreams of “Camano City” as a major “metropolis” were long past.
TODAY
On June 20, 2014, the CAMANO CITY SCHOOLHOUSE & COMMUNITY HALL was placed on the WASHINGTON HERITAGE REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. It’s honored by the Washington State Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation as a historically significant, intact example of a classic “One-Room Schoolhouse”, directly linked to early education in Washington State.
The Camano Schoolhouse Foundation encourages supporters to join CSF as a “Preservation Partner” donor or volunteer. To support this unique historic place call 360-393-3285, visit them on the web at CamanoSchoolhouse.org or @CamanoSchoolhouseFoundation on Facebook.
Finding the cache:
- The container has room for small “treasure” and travel bugs. If you take a piece of treasure please leave something of equal or greater value in return. Also make sure the “treasure” you keep is not a “travel bug” (they are meant to be moved from cache to cache).
- It is always a good idea to have a pencil or pen with you.
- Please rehide the cache as well or better than when you found it.
- Please let me know if there are problems with either the cache or its coordinates.