The ancestors of today's Northern Straits Coast Salish people began to appear in the wake of the continental ice sheet that started to recede 11,000 years ago.

The marine culture encountered by the first Europeans to the area developed about 2,500 years ago, and traces of its once thriving villages remain in the shell middens found along the shoreline of American and English camps and throughout the San Juan islands.

When the British reorganized the official admiralty naval charts in 1847, Henry Kellett systematically removed many of Wilkes's names.

The museum has an extensive archive of local historical documents as well as artifacts depicting life on Lopez Island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A small private airstrip called Windsock Airport is located less than one and a half miles from the ferry terminal.

The summer months' Saturday Market in Lopez Village is filled with arts and crafts, local farm produce, and community activities.

But overall, the drivers are bicycle-friendly and the roads are easier to ride than those on the other San Juan Islands with lower speed limits.

Odlin, one of the most popular beaches on the island, resides just south of Ferry Landing and offers sites for camping and has a boat launch.

Shark Reef Park offers long views west over San Juan Channel and it includes a half-mile trail through some old-growth trees.

[10] Upright Channel Park, a state-operated facility, offers several picnic sites and a hike down to a sandy beach.