Fidalgo Island
Fidalgo Island is an island in Skagit County, Washington, located about north of Seattle. To the east, it is separated from the mainland by the Swinomish Channel, and from Whidbey Island to the south by Deception Pass. The island is named after the Spanish explorer and cartographer Salvador Fidalgo, who explored the area in 1790. Its largest city is Anacortes with a population of 15,778 according to the 2010 Census. Ferries leave daily from Anacortes to Sidney, British Columbia and the San Juan Islands. Geography. Fidalgo Island has a land area of 106.684 km² (41.19 sq mi). There  are at least eight major lakes on Fidalgo Island: Campbell, Little Cranberry, Erie, Heart, Mud, Pass, Trafton/Crater, and Whistle. History. Fidalgo Island was originally inhabited by the Samish and Swinomish peoples. Fidalgo Island is named for the Spanish explorer and cartographer Salvador Fidalgo who explored the area in 1790 with the fleet of Francisco de Eliza. Charles Wilkes discovered that it was an island rather than part of the mainland. He named it "Perry Island" in honor of Oliver Hazard Perry, the American commander who won the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. Following this theme , Wilkes named the island's highest point "Mount Erie". When Henry Kellett reorganized the official British Admiralty charts in 1847, he removed Wilkes' name "Perry" and bestowed the name "Fidalgo" to honor the Spanish explorer. The highest point retained the name "Erie". Settlement peaked in the 1850s due to the Fraser River Gold Rush and in 1890 due to speculation that the area would become a terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Later the island became an important fishing and lumber center. Transportation. From 1924 to 1935, Fidalgo Island was linked to Whidbey Island by the Deception Pass ferry, which  was superseded in 1935 by the construction of the Deception Pass Bridge. Today, Fidalgo Island is the site of the ferry terminal that links Anacortes to Vancouver Island and the San Juan Islands to the rest of the state.