The story of Roche Harbor began more than 200 years ago, in 1787, when Captain de Haro and his crew became the first Europeans to actually sail among the forested San Juan Islands.

Haro Strait, dividing the United States from Vancouver Island, derives its name from this Spanish explorer. In 1845, four years before the California Gold Rush, the Hudson's Bay Company posted a notice of possession on San Juan Island, and built a log trading post at the head of Roche Harbor on the northwest shoulder of the island.

The British traders and settlers were not the only people interested in the San Juan Islands. American settlers moving west were also filtering in. By 1857, three years before the beginning of the Civil War, both govern-ments were claiming the San Juan Islands as its property. There arose a dispute over the western end of the boundary between British and American territory. The dispute lay dormant during the Civil War, but by 1871 the United States and Great Britain selected Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm to arbitrate the dispute. In 1872, Wilhelm awarded possession of the San Juan Islands to the United States. In 1881, two brothers, Robert and Richard Scurr, bought Roche Harbor and started the islands' lime industry .

There was no town at Roche Harbor until John S. McMillin, a Tacoma lawyer, discovered the richest and largest deposit of lime in the Northwest and began negotiations for their claims and property in 1884. By 1886, the Tacoma and Roche Harbor Lime Company had been incorporated and became a large-scale American business.

          

 

McMillin built the 22-room Hotel de Haro in 1886 around the original Hudson's Bay Post with its one-foot thick walls.

By 1890, a company town had grown up around the magnificent hotel. It consisted of a completely modern lime factory, a barrel works, warehouse, docks, ships, piers, offices, company store, church, school, barns and homes. The homes were for both the owner and workers, all neatly painted and kept in good condition as property of the company.

At its peak, Roche Harbor boasted about 800 residents with single men being barracked in large bunkhouses along the hillside beside the church, and In 1956, all 4000 acres ofamilies housed in the rows of one and two-story cottages, lining the slope from schoolhouse to the beach. The independence of the town was completed in its autonomous power, water and telephone systems.

The workers at Roche Harbor were paid in scrip -- good only at the company store and still being used when the town was sold in 1956 -- but they could draw their wages in currency when they desired.

 

         

 

Roche Harbor with 12 miles of coastline was sold to Reuben J. Tarte, a Seattle businessman. He and his family set about restoring the hotel and warehouse, scouring the site for scattered hotel furniture and remnants. Roche Harbor then became a resort for boating families. Neil Tarte and his wife, Margaret, continued running the hotel and marina after Reuben's death, and it became a popular resort for boaters and vacationers from all over the Northwest.

In 1988 the Tartes sold Roche Harbor Resort to partners Verne Howard and Rich Komen. In 1997 Verne Howard decided to pursue other ventures, and Rich Komen now owns half in partnership with Saltchuk Resources of Seattle, a group of businessmen in the shipping trade.

Under the guidance of General Manager, Brent Snow, the resort is becoming more of a village. Since 1992 Roche Harbor has actively pursued the process of site planning and design with the primary focus of creating a sense of place and community. The primary objective will be to maintain the principle that a town must have a center and an edge that takes no more than five minutes to travel by foot. The center of the village will include basic goods necessary to service the needs of the townspeople on a daily basis. These will include grocery, hardware, bakery, bookstore, coffee, etc. Additionally, for guests and residents alike, lodging, restaurants, galleries, conference, marina, laundry and other elements will be available.

Radiating from the center of the village will be houses built on the hill behind the Hotel de Haro, the ridge top above the town core, and along the road above the kilns. The design of these homes will be compatible with the architectural context that has been long established by the original town buildings. Great care will always be taken to keep Roche Harbor the way it has always looked, quaint and inviting.

Please visit us and see for yourself!

Take a look around some of the highlights of historic Roche Harbor!