Roche Harbor – Excerpts from a Photo Shoot

I wanted to continue from last weeks post with sharing shots from our June weekend in the Seattle, Washington area. As a refresher from last week:

“On Friday, we spent the day going up to Henry Island. Henry Island is located on the north end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in a group of islands called the San Juan Islands. This island is the most western island of the group and sits right across from Vancouver Island, British Columbia (just north of Victoria). To get to Henry Island, we needed to take a ferry (car and pedestrian) from Anacortes, Washington to Friday Harbor, which is located on San Juan Island proper. From Friday Harbor, we took our car across that island to the north end until we came into Roche Harbor. We did make a stop by Roche Harbor to go to an oyster farm, which is owned by the people we were going to see on Henry Island. After touring the oyster farm, we went back to Roche Harbor, parked the car and took a small boat that was left for us by family members over to Henry Island. I am going to be sharing a number of the shots that I took that day, but am breaking it down into what I think will be about three posts over the next few weeks.”

My post last week covered shots on the ferry ride from Anacortes on the mainland to Friday Harbor located on San Juan Island. Today’s series will focus on Roche Harbor, where we caught a private boat over to Henry Island.

First, a little history of the Roche Harbor area. The area has a large hill of lime rock and a very pure form of lime was created from burning the rock. A rock quarry and kilns ensued and in 1886, a company town now known as Roche Harbor was built to support the workers of the quarry and kilns. Now, it is a resort that keeps true to the architecture of the era.

Roche Harbor 1

Roche Harbor 1 gives you a good look at the marina and the sheer number of boats docked here.

Roche Harbor 2

Roche Harbor 2 is a shot sweeping left from the first one. In this capture, you can see the entrance to the harbor and Henry Island (the forested land in the background).

Roche Harbor 3

Roche Harbor 3 was taken from the same location as the first two shots, but this time sweeping right back towards the village itself.

Roche Harbor 4

Roche Harbor 4 shows a “rustic” building called Quarryman Hall. This building is actually part of the resort and was built specifically to mirror the architecture in the era of the company town. It sits next to the hill that housed the quarry and lines up with a row of kilns that were down on the harbor level. From this viewpoint, if you were to walk to your right, you would find yourself standing in front of Roche Harbor 4.

Roche Harbor 5

Roche Harbor 5 is a tower built from the local rock that has an old wooden platform on top for viewing out to the harbor and beyond towards Henry Island.

Roche Harbor 6

Roche Harbor 6 shows one of the kilns. There is one long row of kiln after kiln lining the base of the hill. This is where the rock was burned, creating the lime that was known for its purity.

Roche Harbor 7

Roche Harbor 7 takes us back into the village to the left and across the street from the Quarryman Hall. This is the Hotel de Haro and is the oldest continuous operating hotel in the state of Washington. The hotel is completely modern, but true to the original architecture.

Roche Harbor 8

Roche Harbor 8 – I leave you with this shot of Roche Harbor as we head through this garden to get our boat to continue our journey over to Henry Island. Thoughts?

Please visit my main gallery: TheWallGallery (All domestic orders over $60.00 – free shipping!)

Follow my work:

Facebook: TheWallGallery by Kirt Tisdale. (Page likes are always appreciated!)

Google+: TheWallGallery

Twitter: KirtWallGallery

Instagram: Kirttisdale

Tsu: KirtWallGallery