NEWSPAPER CLIPPING: TACOMA NEWS TRIBUNE AND SUNDAY LEDGER … DATE UNKNOWN (late 60’s?)
Editors Note: David Richardson is a free-lance writer who lives at Eastsound, on Orcas Island in the San Juans.

Looking at the sleepy little village of Richardson on Lopez Island’s southern shore, it’s hard to imagine the bustling port and active community which once stood there. Yet this was for a time the center of a great fishing industry and, as the county’s nearest port to Seattle, one of the San Juans’ busiest spots.

Today Richardson is a picture of serenity. A small general store nestles close to the water: nearby stands a pretty but unpretentious dock. Across the way in the storekeeper’s neat home, and in the background half a dozen scattered farmhouses make up the rest of the “town.” Yet for those who know, the stuff of history permeates the scene.

Not far away the Spanish explorers Galiano and Valdes landed in June 1792, thinking they were the first representatives of white civilization to set foot on these virgin shores. They did not know George Vancouver had beaten them there by a fortnight, having stopped to bask in the spring sun on Flat Point a few miles to the north.

SITE OF CLASH

Though rarely mentioned in the numerous accounts of the San Juan “Pig War’ the first British-American boundary clash occurred on Lopez. In 1852 a British citizen named William Pattle built two log huts on the island’s southwestern tip, intending to carry on trade with the Indians. But before long he left these diggings to go coal prospecting at Bellingham Bay and an American, Richard W. Cousins, settled into Pattles abandoned cabins. Cousins was driven off by British authorities the following year, and the American lodged a stiff protest with a passing U. S. Army survey vessel which reported the incident to Washington. It was largely the Cousins affair which made the British to strengthen their own claim by establishing a sheep ranch on the islands, which they did in December of that year.

San Juan Island was chosen for the purpose because it was nearer Victoria and a small Hudson’s Bay Co. fishing station was already operating there. The sheep ranch was placed in charge of Charles Griffin, owner of the famous pig which, by letting itself killed in an American settlers potato patch, brought matters to a dramatic head several years later.

FEW SETTLERS ON LOPEZ

With the focus of events thus given to San Juan Island, most newcomers to the area settled elsewhere so that when the boundary was finally decided by arbitration in 1872 only a handful of homes had been established on Lopez. These were scattered along the coastline – no one had yet settled inland where dark and ancient forests still largely prevailed.

One of the earlier pioneers was George Richardson (no relations of this writer) about whom little is remembered except that about 1870 he settled on the spot which now bears his name, cleared several acres of land and built a farm. Ruins of Richardson’s log barn are still standing.

Richardson sold his farm to Charlie and Mary Mann in 1884 and the Manns sold out in turn to William Graham three years later.

Graham, who had lived on Lopez since 1877, always “thought big” and was already on his way to becoming the islands most prominent citizen—school board director, county commissioner, and all that. Graham decided the first thing that was needed was a post office on the south part of the island. The only one on Lopez then was at Fisherman’s Harbor, now called Fisherman’s Bay, five miles to the north. That was a long way to hike, just to mail a letter. (William’s brother, Tommy Graham, recalled in later years that there was only one horse on Lopez in the early days and “he was absolutely no good. They kept him there to look at.”)

TUG CARRIES MAIL

Mail was carried once or twice a week on the little steam tug “Libby” at the time. About July 1889, a pioneer neighbor, James Davis—began rowing out into the bay to meet the “Libby” and receive mail destined for the lower end of the island. The Davis home served as post office for the first month or two. Then the postmaster’s appointment was given to “Maggie” Carr, whose husband, Hamilton, built a small building with a shed roof, which became both post office and home for the Carrs. The community’s first dock was built this same autumn.

It was about the first of May the next year when a newcomer showed up, introducing himself as Robert E. Kindleyside, and announcing his intention of starting a store. Graham and other neighbors turned out to help him build one. They had the spot picked and cleared, and a building put up in about two weeks. Shelves were in place a day or two after that, and the first load of goods arrived from Seattle on May 20. Kindleyside and his partner, Jarret T. Lewis opened for business the same day.

LEAVES FOR HAWAII

Lewis left to become a coffee planter in Hawaii not long afterward and in January 1898 Kindleyside sold out to two partners named Wage and McDonald. The following year William Graham bought the store himself, turning it over to a relative, Norman P. Hodgson to operate. Another Hodgson, Thomas P. became postmaster. The Hodgson brothers were universally referred to as “N.P.” and “T.P.”.

In January 1897 community spirit was brightly burning and the people of Richardson decided to build a public hall for dances and other occasions. Money was raised by popular subscription and much of the labor and materials was donated. The structure measured 40 by 80 feet and had two stories: characteristically it took only a month to build, and the first dance and supper were held in it on February 4. Just about everyone on Lopez and many people from surrounding islands attended this outstanding social event. For many years Richardson Hall was the pride of the island and found use as a schoolhouse and for church services.

MILLION FISH CAUGHT

By the century’s turn Richardson had become the principal port in the San Juans, especially during the fishing season when the waters around Lopez were thronged with boats and its shores lined with fishermen’s temporary dwellings. Over 400 men fished the 1901 season. A local paper proclaimed that the season’s catch came to over a million fish, of which, many thousands were dumped because of the lack of markets for such a bumper crop.

Fish traps were springing up everywhere; one cannery was in operation and another about to be built; T.P. Hodgson had a hastily set-up salting and barreling concern going full blast until he ran out of both salt and barrels and found these items unobtainable anywhere on the Sound. No one lacked work, even if it was just cutting wood for the hungry steam vessels which came and went in great numbers. There was even talk of putting in a “steel manufacturing plant” and other industries.

But such talk was too high-flown. Times were never much better and were frequently worse. Richardson, like the rest of San Juan County, saw its rising wave of prosperity break upon the rocks of successive business recessions and increasing transportation charges. Yet, Richardson always did relatively well – as long as the fish runs held up.

N. P. QUITS THE STORE

In 1916 N.P. decided to retire from storekeeping and devote himself to dairying. The Hodgson and Graham partnership was followed by Ira and Mary Lundy whose son, Oliver and his wife are the present operators of the store and wharf. When she was 90, Mary Lundy wrote down her recollections of that first year’s storekeeping. She mentioned with nostalgia the dancing lights of the harbor’s myriad boats of an evening and the songs of these crews floating across on the night air. She also paralled(?) wrestling with jaw breaking names of the fishermen, many of whom came from …….., as she carried out her duties in the little post office.

1916 was also the year of the big fire at Richardson. It was a peaceful Indian summer evening when the big oil company supply boat “Petroleum II” tied up to the wharf, connected its hoses and began filling two huge storage tanks next to the dock. There was a small leak somewhere and a bit of oil slick began to show up on the water. As the Petroleum’s crew finished its job, a purse-seiner from Seattle, the “Saga” angled into the dock. Its captain-owner, Fred Anderson, threw the line onto the dock himself. The crew of the 11-ton vessel were all below.

A SHEET OF FLAME

The oil slick had just about encircled the 45-foot Saga when the explosion occurred. Instantly the water was a sheet of flame all around. Anderson managed to jump to safety on the dock. Crewmen Charles Clausen and Isaac Nyland dove overboard on the offshore side, swimming under water for some distance. Nylund’s wind gave out too soon; he surfaced just at the edge of the flames, instantly receiving serious burns about the face and arms.

Engineer Emil Lungren, not a strong swimmer, was unable to dive. Holding his head above water the whole way he struggled through the inferno and reached shore, horribly burned, more dead than alive.

The wharf, warehouse, and purse-seiner were all destroyed. Except for an offshore wind blowing, the rest of the town would probably have gone up with them.

NEW WHARF BUILT

The Lundy’s built a new wharf—a two-story affair with an elevator (home-made) connecting the floors. Feed, seed, flour and other staples were sold on the lower floor, where there was also a mill for grinding grain. This was replaced in the mid 30s by the present, smaller store building. The Oliver Lundys’ comfortable, modern home now stands on the earlier store site.

The Richardson store of today has two levels, the upper one reached by walking up a ramp. The general store atmosphere is still there: groceries, dry goods, sundries, hardware – all the essentials of rural life and arrayed on its crowded shelves and tables, Mrs. Lundy’s roll-top desk stands in the corner, comfortably littered with “--- counts” and those little pads for recordings charge account sales, cash with a customer’s name penciled boldly across one end.

It’s a friendly kind of store, one where barefoot youngsters can still get whopping ice cream cones, scooped up from an old-fashioned bulk freezer. Too bad there aren’t more like it.