Anderson Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anderson Island is the southernmost island in the Puget Sound and is part of Pierce County, Washington, USA. It is accessible by boat or a 20 minute ferry ride from Steilacoom.
Anderson Island has a land area of 20.06 km² (7.746 sq mi), and reported a population of exactly 900 persons as of the 2000 census, the island had been a retirement destination since the late 1960's, with a median age of 54 years. The population booms every summer to a population of approximately 4000.
The island was first named by Commander Charles Wilkes of the U.S. Expedition, who was sent out to explore the Northwest country. Given a warm reception and assistance to aid his operations at Fort Nisqually by Mr. Anderson and Captain McNeil, Wilkes repaid the kindnesses shown him by naming the two nearby islands after these two men.
In 1870, Andrew N. Christensen, a Dane, and his brother, Christian F. Christensen, were the first settlers to come to the island. Andrew's wife had a strong hand in the development of the island community. Christian was the only Christensen brother to permanently reside on Anderson Island. The primary industry was the sale of wood to the wood burning steamers that came into Amsterdam Bay. Other early industries included brick making, farming and fishing.
Accessible only by ferry. The Steilacoom / Anderson Island / Ketron Island run is the only run belonging to Pierce County and is not owned by The Washington State Ferry System. The ferry "Steilacoom II" was put into service in January 2007 to work side by side with the aging ferry "Christine Anderson". The ferry runs many times per day starting at 5:45 in the morning to 10:30 pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (8:00 pm other nights).
In 2004, a company based in Los Angeles purchased many of the available lots on the island (average price $2000+) and sold them for a much higher-than-market price ($39,000+). They created an infomercial and sold to out of state investors primarily in much higher priced areas including California. This literally put Anderson Island on the map as people flocked from far and wide to purchase land for building.
