Anderson Island (Washington)

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The old Anderson Island School.

Anderson Island is the southernmost island in Puget Sound and is part of Pierce County, Washington, United States. It is accessible by boat or a 20 minute ferry ride from Steilacoom. Anderson Island lies just south of McNeil Island. To the northwest Key Peninsula lies across Drayton Passage. The south basin of Puget Sound separates the island from the mainland to the southeast, while to the southwest the Nisqually Reach of Puget Sound separates the island from the mainland.

Anderson Island has a land area of 20.06 km² (7.746 sq mi), and reported a population of exactly 900 persons as of the 2000 census. The island had been a retirement destination since the late 1960s, with a median age of 54 years. The population booms every summer to approximately 4,000.^[1]

The island was named in 1841 by Charles Wilkes of the United States Exploring Expedition. Given a warm reception at Fort Nisqually by Mr. Anderson and Captain McNeill, and assistance to aid his operations, Wilkes repaid the kindness by naming the two nearby islands after these two men.

In 1870, Andrew N. Christensen, a Dane, and his brother, Christian F. Christensen, were the first settlers to come to the island. Andrew's wife had a strong hand in the development of the island community. Christian was the only Christensen brother to permanently reside on Anderson Island. The primary industry was the sale of wood to the wood burning steamers that came into Amsterdam Bay. Other early industries included brick making, farming and fishing.

Accessible only by ferry, the Steilacoom / Anderson Island / Ketron Island run is the only run belonging to Pierce County.^[2] The ferry "Steilacoom II" was put into service in January 2007 to work side by side with the aging ferry "Christine Anderson". The ferry runs many times per day starting at 5:45 in the morning to 10:30 pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (8:00 pm other nights). However, the Steilacoom II was recently^[when?] pulled from service to replace a State Ferry, leaving Anderson Island and Ketron Island with only one ferry, the Christine Anderson.

In 2004, National Recreational Properties, Inc. of Irvine, California purchased more than 100 vacant lots on the island in the range of $4,000 to $7,000. They created an infomercial and sold to out of state investors, most from California. Residents speculate that the lots will be sold for about $25,000.^[3]

In the movie WarGames, Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy take a ferry to Anderson Island, named "Goose Island" in the film.^[4]