Friday Harbor Turns 100 and a Blurry Mink

Today marks the centennial of the town of Friday Harbor. Celebrations for the centennial are going on all year, but 100 years ago to the day, Friday Harbor was incorporated, and it remains the only incorporated town in San Juan County. It's kind of cool to be here on the very day that marks the anniversary. The San Juan Journal notes that Friday Harbor residents voted to incorporate their village by a vote of 70-55. That means the town itself has gone from 125 residents on February 9, 1909, to an estimated 2,082 residents on February 9, 2009.

My mom picked up a cool book at a library book sale a few years ago, called "Friday Harbor Then and Now". It was published in 1972 and reviews in sketches the last 100 years of the town. Below is map of what the town looked like about 100 years ago:

Also, on a different note, I had to share a cool sighting from today. Today was the first time I've ever seen a mink from the houseboat! Unfortunately it was dusk, minks are really fast, and I was lucky enough to to have time to grab my camera and get a photo at all, let alone a clear one. So, since it's so exciting, I decided to post my blurry photo of the mink, which gives you an idea of how cute he was. They are amazing creatures I know very little about, but now I intend to learn more about these ferret-sized critters that we only get brief glimpses of as they scurry along the rocky shorelines of the San Juan Islands.