Patos Island

For the island in Venezuela, see Patos Island (Venezuela).

Patos Island is a small island in the San Juan Islands of the U.S. state of Washington. Since 1893, it has been home to the Patos Island Lighthouse, guiding vessels through Boundary Pass between Canada and the United States.

The island and adjacent islets comprise Patos Island State Park, a 207-acre (0.84 km2) marine park with 20,000 feet (6,100 m) of saltwater shoreline. The entire island is owned by the federal government and is administered by the Bureau of Land Management's Wenatchee Office, and Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission operates a small campground facility at Active Cove near the west side of the island, maintains a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) loop trail and has two offshore mooring buoys. The Island is lovingly maintained by the all-volunteer Patos Island Fire Department ("We care, We Swear.")

The name comes from the Spanish pato, meaning "duck", which was given to the island in 1792 by Commander Dionisio Alcalá Galiano of the Sutil and Captain Cayetano Valdés y Flores of the Mexicana.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ Phillips, James W. (1971). Washington State Place Names. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-95158-3. 

External links