It is an unincorporated area with several small communities and shares civic facilities with nearby Stanwood, including its school district, and post office.

[15] Artifacts and human remains attributed to an old village were discovered by archaeologists at Cama Beach which were dated to 1,600 years before present.

[22][23] The first sawmill on the island was constructed by Thomas Cranney in 1858 and a school district was organized in 1862 to serve 17 students in a one-room schoolhouse.

[24] Cranney's sawmill at Utsalady was seized by the federal government in 1876 due to his bankruptcy and sold the following year to the Puget Mill Company, which enlarged it to handle 75,000 board feet per day.

[25] A plat for Utsalady was filed in 1891, with the town boasting three stores, two hotels, a telegraph line, and daily steamship service to Coupeville.

[27] Following the Panic of 1893, the Utsalady sawmill was closed and left 125 residents unemployed,[25] but five shingle mills were later opened to capitalize on the island's timber.

[32] During the Prohibition era, Camano Island was used as a major transiting point for rumrunners due to its remoteness and proximity to Canadian waters.

[33][34] The Juniper Beach area was also home to a new oyster farm that was established in 1930 and helped sustain the island during the Great Depression.

[35] In 1943, the Puget Mill Company began developing its plots into residential subdivisions, ushering in the arrival of permanent summer homes on the island.

[37] Major population growth in the 1960s and early 1970s caused strain on the island's infrastructure, requiring the creation of a new planning office and a satellite county courthouse.

[38] Camano Island is located within the Puget Sound, separated from the mainland of Snohomish County by Port Susan and Davis Slough.

[42] Migrating gray whales travel annually through the Saratoga Passage in March and April, making them visible from Camano Island.

Camano Island State Park, near Elger Bay, was opened in 1949 after a one-day volunteer effort with 500 local residents to prepare the property.

[48] The largest park, Camano Ridge, includes 400 acres (160 ha) of inland protected forestland and hiking trails that were transferred from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 2003.

[49] At the north end of the island is Iverson Preserve, a 120 acres (49 ha) beach and estuary with fishing and boat access.

[50] Barnum Point County Park on Port Susan was opened in August 2019 with 167 acres (68 ha) of waterfront space, acquired with $750,000 in private donations through a local land trust.

[citation needed] The retiree population on the island began arriving in the mid-20th century, including residents from outside of Washington state.

The island's residents have previously proposed incorporating as a city or joining Snohomish County to increase access to services, but to no result.

[61] A permanent library at Terry's Corner opened in August 2015 after voters on the island approved a $2.3 million bond measure to remodel a former restaurant.

[84] Tap water is sourced from groundwater wells on the island that are maintained by community cooperatives and small companies rather than a large operator.