I'm working on an article about Port Angeles, and thought that this
brief portion mentioning historic socialist and anarchist communes is
WA state might be of interest to anyody who ever boats up this way.
Little waterfront "nowheres" that appear on our charts have some
extremely interesting history. Something to remember when cruising by
some of these locales. Puget Sound was once a hotbed of socialism......
(and I'm sure a few folks would be willing to observe that it probably
still is).....


*********

We still see the names on our charts; the village of Home on Carr
Inlet, Freeland on Whidbey's Holmes Harbor, Burley on Burley Lagoon in
Henderson Bay. All were established in the late 19th Century as
"Christian Socialist" or anarchist communities by visionaries hoping
to create utopian societies.

Burley (originally named "Circle City") was a cooperative colony from
1898-1913. The town of Freeland was founded in 1899, and while avowed
socialists are now clearly a minority there the town expanded to
become the present day center of commerce for South Whidbey. The free-
thinking anarchists and communal nudists that founded Home in 1896
scandalized the good citizens of nearby Tacoma. Only the fact that a
steamship captain refused to carry a mob of angry vigilantes to Home
from Tacoma saved the community from fiery destruction after the 1901
assassination of President McKinley by a reputed anarchist. In 1919,
Home succumbed to the same basic truth that has plagued every society,
government, religion, corporation, and economy ever devised by man; as
long as human nature is imperfect, our organizations will be imperfect
as well.

The very first utopian community in the Pacific NW began in 1887 and
endured until 1904. It would be inaccurate to say that the Puget Sound
Cooperative Colony "founded" Port Angeles, but it attracted hundreds
of utopian pioneers to its planned community of cooperative
industries, homes, and businesses. The influx of colonists soon
outnumbered the original community of loggers, traders, and nearby
homesteaders. Puget Sound Cooperative colonists built schools,
churches, homes, the first sawmill, and the Port Angeles Opera House.
Perhaps Port Angeles would have eventually evolved to become the
largest city along the US side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca without
the assistance of the socialist utopians- but even after the
Cooperative Colony disbanded, the creative thinkers and risk takers it
had attracted remained to contribute to the growth of Port Angeles. We
can seasily observe remnants of early 20th Century Port Angeles when
we visit this charming city on the Strait...

********

Can't speak for others, but little historic tidbits help make a place
more interesting for me.