The United States obtained Shaw Island and the rest of the San Juan archipelago by treaty in 1855, but Lummi retained certain cultural and resource rights, including fishing.

Benedictine nuns established a monastery on 150 acres (61 hectares) in the 1970s; while the Sisters of Mercy have owned an unofficial retreat on the island since the 1980s.

[2] Nuns of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist ran the island's only store and the ferry terminal for almost 3 decades, until 2004, when they relocated elsewhere.

[3] Shaw Island has a county park, a historic general store open all year, and a post office at the ferry landing.

Businesses pertaining to tourism are required to maintain the character of the island as a small-scale, rural, and agricultural community through the Shaw Subarea Plan of Washington State's Growth Management Act.