| What makes it historical? |
In 1845, the Hudson Bay Company first laid claim to San Juan Island right here at Roche Harbor, later named for Lieutenant Richard Roche, commander of the Royal Marines! It was Lieutenant Roche who first began the quarrying of limestone and the production of lime for making steel, plaster, cement and paper!
Nine years after Kaiser Wilhelm I gave the island to the United States, Robert and Richard Scurr started their own lime industry at Roche Harbor, which blossomed after John S. McMillin took over in 1886. Mr. McMillin built the amazing Hotel de Haro, named after the Spanish explorer who first sailed the strait along the island, then founded a company town around it! Roche Harbor became Washington’s largest lime processing operation! |
