San de Fuca, Washington facts for kids
San de Fuca is a small, historic place on Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington, United States. It is an unincorporated community, which means it's a place where people live but it doesn't have its own local government like a city or town. San de Fuca sits on the north side of Penn Cove, right across the water from the town of Coupeville.
San de Fuca: A Look Back
San de Fuca was once a small town in the 1800s. People had big plans for this quiet spot.
A Big Dream for a Small Place
In the late 1800s, people imagined San de Fuca as a very important place for shipping. The idea was to build a special water path, called a shipping channel, right across Whidbey Island. This channel would connect to Anacortes by train. This would make San de Fuca a major hub where goods and people could easily switch from boats to trains. In 1890, some even said it was the best place for a railroad to end and for land and water travel to meet.
However, this big plan for the canal never happened. A major economic problem, known as the Panic of 1893, caused the project to be canceled.
Life by the Water
Even though the canal wasn't built, San de Fuca remained a busy stop for many years. Steamer boats, which carried passengers, would stop there on their trips to and from Seattle.
A historic hotel in San de Fuca stood for a long time, at least until 1970. The old San de Fuca pier, which is a dock built in 1911, was still standing in 2014. These structures are reminders of the community's past as a lively waterfront stop.
