Anacortes, Washington, United States

🇺🇸 Anacortes is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman. Anacortes is one of two principal cities of and included in the Mount Vernon-Anacortes Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Anacortes is known for the Washington State Ferries dock and terminal serving Lopez Island, Shaw Island, Orcas Island, and San Juan Island, as well as Victoria, British Columbia (via Sidney, British Columbia), on Vancouver Island. There is also a Skagit County-operated ferry that serves Guemes Island, a residential island located across Guemes Channel, north of Anacortes.

History Anacortes is within the historical territory of the Samish people. Anacortes was officially incorporated on May 19, 1891.

In 1877, railroad surveyor and town founder Amos Bowman moved his family to the northern tip of Fidalgo Island. Bowman began promoting the area as an obvious terminus for the Northern Pacific Railway as it was built through the north Cascades to the Pacific. Bowman established the town's first newspaper, The Northwest Enterprise, to promote his vision of the New York of the West.

Seattle and Northern Company began building a rail line from the town in 1888. Real estate and development boomed from 1888 to 1890 as a result of the railroad rumors, and the Oregon Improvement Company posted $15 million in bonds to develop the town.

In 1891, the real estate bubble burst. Speculators lost money and the Oregon Improvement Company could no longer afford to complete tracks over the Cascades. The town failed to become the railroad terminus Bowman had envisioned.

After the bust, the town became prominent for its fishing tradition, thriving canning industry, and timber mills.

Geography Anacortes is on Fidalgo Island. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.53 square miles (40.22 km²), of which 11.75 square miles (30.43 km²) is land and 3.78 square miles (9.79 km²) is water.

Recreation and tourism Anacortes is a popular destination for boaters and those traveling on to the San Juan Islands. The city maintains a 220-acre (0.89 km²) city park on the north-western end of Fidalgo Island named "Washington Park". This park features camping, boat launching, and views of the San Juan Islands. The most prominent view is of Cypress Island. As a result of Anacortes' proximity to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the area provides opportunities for whale-watching. The waters off of Anacortes and Fidalgo Island are home to several varieties of marine-life, including three resident Orca pods.

Anacortes Community Forest Lands, 2,800 acres (11 km²) with 50 miles (80 km) of mountain biking and hiking trails, are a rare amenity in a city the size of Anacortes. In adjacent Mount Erie Park, a number of rock climbing routes are popular on the cliffs of the south and west faces of Mount Erie. Mount Erie offers scenic vistas from its 1273-foot peak.

Anacortes hosts many long-distance cyclists, as it is the western terminus of the Adventure Cycling Association's Northern Tier cross-country bicycle route, which ends in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Anacortes is also home to The Business, a record store and concert venue voted Washington's best record shop. Founded in 1978, the store is notable for its many musicians who have worked there, including Bret Lunsford, Phil Elverum and Karl Blau. The Business is located in the Alfred Olson Building which is part of the National Register of Historic Places.

Festivals and celebrations • "Shipwreck Day" is a single-day, flea market/town garage sale event held annually on the 3rd Saturday in July. City management accommodates the occasion by blocking off several downtown streets. • What the Heck Fest was an annual festival coinciding with Shipwreck Day. It began in 2001 and held its last festival in 2019. The festival took place at various locations in Anacortes a week in the middle of July. Performers presented music, movies, literature, and art. The thematic centre of the festival is the dinner show that includes a full meal along with the concert, an actual community event. • The first weekend of August hosts the Anacortes Arts Festival. Started in 1962 as the result of the efforts of a group of community arts patrons, the festival is held in the midst of blocked-off downtown main street areas. Vendors, merchants, and artisans present their wares in covered booths while jazz and blues musicians are showcased on four different stages. • The Oyster Run is an annual one day motorcycle rally held on the fourth Sunday of September. Beginning in 1981, the event has grown into the largest rally in the Pacific Northwest, with an estimated motorcycle count of 15000 bikes, and growing in numbers each year. • The Anacortes Farmers Market began in 1989 and occurs every Saturday from May to October, with a special holiday market the weekend before Thanksgiving and monthly winter markets from January to April.