At an Island crossroad

Vashon-Maury is unique among Puget Sound islands—and islands in general—in that most islands have a seaside town or port as their commercial center, while Vashon has a landlocked main town. Why did the island’s business center develop in a central inland location?

A growing population of settlers created the need for goods and services there; a general store and bank were built, followed by the development of other business properties. Changes in transportation patterns and a sometimes vitriolic competition between the north and south ends of the island helped cement the town of Vashon as the prominent commercial center. Later modernization in the retail and grocery industry helped draw customers island-wide into town.

Farm to market

An early steamboat stop at Vashon Landing, a half mile east of the present-day town of Vashon, allowed easy access to the central area. Settlement grew there, and soon large-scale strawberry farms created the need for farm-to-market roads. The resulting wagon traffic, carrying produce to and from Vashon Landing, created a crossroads in the future townsite. In 1890, Frank Gorsuch built a general store at the crossroads, giving the town of Vashon its start. By 1909, the town contained a bank, general store, meat market, blacksmith, shoe, saddle and harness shop, post office, newspaper office, telephone office, hotel, real estate office, school, and two churches.

Ferry traffic

The first automobile ferry offered service from near Portage to Des Moines in 1916. After a ferry dock was built at Vashon Heights in 1919, the Portage–Des Moines ferry service ceased in 1921. The town of Vashon became the primary crossroads of goods and people going off-island, and the businesses there prospered partially because of the ferry traffic that came through town.

First paved road

In 1921, the official opening of the island’s first paved road—from the Vashon Heights ferry dock to the town of Center—brought more business through Vashon. The island became more unified, and the town of Vashon solidified as its main commercial hub, while Burton, Dockton, Portage, and other small communities slowly faded.

Construction boom

The former Gorsuch property—on the west side of the main road from Bank Road to present-day Gravy—was platted for business lots in 1921, with 12 lots abutting the main road. By 1930, all but one of these lots had business buildings on them.

Three fires

In 1933, a blaze destroyed five buildings, and another fire in 1946 destroyed the town’s first theater. A 1977 fire destroyed two of the buildings that had been rebuilt after the 1933 fire, along with one other.

A modern town

A big step in modernization came in 1959 with construction of the new Kimmel supermarket a block west of Vashon Highway. Before this time, the town had been limited to the main street. Kimmel’s and its 200-car parking lot, built on top of a former strawberry field, was a symbol of changing modes of transportation that resulted in less isolated communities, a more unified island population. The modern town center was literally built on top of the strawberry industry that helped establish it.