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 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, post office,
a blacksmith, several shingle mills, a boatyard,
and 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
dissolved, and dreams of "Camano City" as a
major "metropolis" were long past.
At the Camano City Schoolhouse & Community Hall,
the Camano Schoolhouse Foundation/CSF will recreate
the distinctive yesteryear ambience
of a 1905 classroom.
The rejuvenated Community Hall will become a rental
venue for a diverse mix of family Education and
and entertainment events that illuminate and Preserve
for Posterity, the intriguing history of all eras of
early Camano Island life.
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