Anaquotes

Amos Bowman 1[About Amos Bowman]

 Anonymous

Town founder Amos Bowman is eulogized in this quote by a historian from the early 20th Century. Bowman died somewhat broken-hearted, seeing his dreams of Anacortes being a great railway terminus dissolve, but not sticking around long enough to see what the town would later become. The same author goes on to elaborate on his almost Shakespearean death stating, "Mr. Bowman died at his Anacortes home in 1899, while time, too slow for such a mortal, was hearing year by year the proof of his unerring prophecy."

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[About Annie Curtis]

Charlie Gant (April 12, 1906)

Annie Curtis 1

Poet and journalist Charlie Gant speaks of the importance of Anacortes’ name in this quote, and the wife of Amos Bowman. Annie Curtis was as popular a figure in her time as even Amos himself. According to Gant when the woman died and was sent back to Anacortes for her burial, the town showed up in droves at the funeral and in the streets to memorialize their founding mother. 

Kirvin Smith (1941)Kirvin Smith 1

Kirvin Smith taught history, contemporary world problems, psychology, and economics in his 30 years at Anacortes High School, 1936-1966. He won the Man of the Year award in 1952. He also shared his knowledge, and his art, with the community. On 5-23-1940, he spoke to the Anacortes Rotary at the Empire Theater, explaining the then-current war situation. His artwork adorned his class, and was entered in the Anacortes Arts and Crafts Festival.

Wallie Funk 1 (2)

Wallie V. Funk 



There’s a certain mythos bestowed upon Anacortes fisherfolk. Brave men and women who face brutal weather and the might of the open ocean in order to make their living.

In the summer of 1958, Wallie Funk joined a local crew aboard a boat known as the Deception on their voyage to Alaska. Wallie got an inside look at the lives of these crew members and the special relationship they had not only with each other, but with all seafarers.

Wallie recorded his experience with these fishermen in a photo set known as the Funk Fishing Photos. Check out the set on our website to learn more about these incredible fishermen: https://www.anacorteswa.gov/425/Funk-Fishing-Photos-Exhibit  


The Best Betty Pic"In the half hour before train time, I went nearly wild with impatience to be on the way to Anacortes - where the girls have natural complexions, men have square jaws and no fancy moustaches, mountains are snow-covered, winds aren’t dusty, and people have some interest in their neighbors." - Betty Lowman (Living on the Window Seat)


Betty Lowman writes about traveling back to Anacortes from Pomona College in Claremont, California in this edition of her Anacortes Daily Mercury Column, Living on the Window Seat. Lowman was a woman of the north through and through in both appearance and sentiment. Upon returning to Anacortes from Pomona she would soon be on her way further up north to Ketchikan, Alaska on her iconic voyage in the dugout canoe, "Bijaboji."