Who were the explorers, entrepreneurs and soldiers who first explored and laid claim to the San Juans?

Why did some choose to stay and settle in the relative isolation of the Salish Sea? What kind of person lives here today?

Each year during the month of May, the Town of Friday Harbor helps tell the story of the people and places of the San Juans by celebrating National Historic Preservation Month. Guided walking tours, local history talks and other special events attract island visitors and residents alike, and portray the past as long-time islanders lived and remember it.

For a complete calendar of Preservation Month events, click here.

This May, during Friday Harbor’s celebration of National Preservation Month, we had a special visitor: WA Secretary of State Sam Reed. While here, he requested a private tour of Friday Harbor’s historic district and the San Juan County Courthouse. Town of Friday Harbor Historic Preservation Coordinator Sandy Strehlou led the historic district tour; District Court Administrator Marion Melville led the tour through the 1906 courthouse.

The tours were Secretary Reed’s idea; Strehlou and Melville were all too happy to oblige. Even the weather cooperated offering up one of the first sunny days of spring.

Secretary Reed is an avid history buff who has, along with his other official duties, the job of overseeing the State Archives, the State Library, the Legacy Project and the collection and preservation of the historical records of the state. In this capacity the Office of the Secretary of State is involved with the overall preservation of our state’s history and making that history available to the people of the state and beyond.

Reed, the 14th Secretary of State in Washington, conceived the Heritage Center as a home, on the State Capitol Campus, where the heritage of our state and the stories of our people can be accessed in person or virtually through the Heritage Center Network. Due to the current economic recession, funding for the physical heritage center building has stalled, but hopefully only temporarily.