Welcome to Stanwood and Camano Island!  Camano Island is 18 miles in length and ranges in width from one mile to seven miles.  The Island is connected to Stanwood by a small land bridge.  Camano is located about 55 miles north of downtown Seattle, however, Camano sits in the Olympic Sun Belt and it only receives 17-20 inches of rain annually. 

History of Camano Island

Camano was first charted in 1791 by Great Britain.  The previous year Britain had gotten Nootka Island and Sound from the Spanish through treaty agreements.  The British sent out Captain George Vancouver to search for the North West Passage.  Because of heavy fog Vancouver and his co captains Peter Puget and Captain Whidbey, were unaware that the land on the West side of Port Susan Bay was an island.  Camano was not explored again until 1838 when Lieutenant Charles Wilkes of the United States Navy was sent to chart southern waters.  Wilkes was also supposed to name all areas that were not previously named.  Wlikes named what is now Camano Island, Macdonough Island in honor of Thomas Macdonough who was a captain in the War of 1812. The water between Macdonough and Whidbey Island were named Saragtoga Passage.  In 1847 British navy Captain Kllett changed the name of the island once more to the present title "Camano Island".  This last change was to restore our Spanish Heritage and to honor Captain Don Caamano of the Spanish Navy.  The last settlers of Camano were loggers.  The loggers named Camano "crow Island" a name that locals used until the early 1900's. 

History of Stanwood

Stanwoods first residents were the Skaget and Stillaguamish Indian Tribes.  Around 1864, the first logging camps and farms were being established around a new trading post Florence that was on the Stillaguamish River.  The second trading post was called Centerville which was established on the south pass of the Stilliguamish River.  However, because of the marshes and tidelands settlers chose to move more inland.  The Centerville Trading Post relocated and in 1877 its Post Office was renamed Stanwood.  The mill owners, Crennan & Cranney were successful until 1876 when one of their ships wrecked causing them to go out of business.  The Puget mill Company took the business over until it went out of business in 1891.  in the 1880's Stanwood was the largest community because it was located on the mouth of the Stilliguamish River and it had two large logging companys.  In the 1890's Stanwood had the largest Norwegian settlement in the West.