A Brief One Hundred Year History Of Spring Point
By Don McVay*
Long before the folks who live here now, the Salish Sea people paddled their dugouts from the quiet cove (Deer Harbor) past a small island (Fawn) into open water where Orca and Minke whales swam with seals, sea lions, and otters. Along the shore were small beaches and rock outcroppings with shellfish, kelp, mink, raccoons, king fishers, and great blue herons. Offshore, marbled murrelets, puffins, aucklets, guillemots and eagles hunted. Deer browsed along the shore and sometimes swam to nearby islands. Above the shoreline, madrone, firs, cedars, alders, willows, salal, mahonia, ocean spray, camas lilies and wild strawberries covered the land. The abundance of nature was evident in these placid waters and nearby islands.
Later, along the shores of what we now call North and Spring Passages, newcomers to this idyllic place set their nets for the abundant salmon runs. The large trees along the shore were cut and skidded down to the water. Four- and five-foot diameter stumps of some of these massive trees can still be seen, giving sustenance to countless numbers of species that exist on the slowly decaying biomass. Old log skids can be spotted along the shore with their steel cables anchored to the rocks.
Logging roads honeycombed the area that on maps was called Steep Point. Between Steep Point and Sunset Beach Road, a wetland provided some land suitable for agricultural purposes. According to the San Juan County Auditor, a patent under the Homestead Act for a portion of this property--148+ acres--was issued by President William McKinley on June 17, 1901 to Robert J. Shaw. Shaw and his wife Jennie sold the property to Nils Johnson in 1903 for $65,000. Johnson, in turn, sold the land to Henry T. Cayou in 1906. Potatoes were grown in the area of an old orchard that still has trees bearing tasty apples and pears. A cabin and small outbuildings were in this area that was owned by the Henry and Jennie Weddle family in 1917. Their son, Weyland Weddle, was born in one of these structures.
In the 1930s, the Buck family constructed a farmhouse. Later, Belle R. Waugh owned the property. The excursion sailboat the Orcas Belle, constructed by Chet North, was named after her. Chris Willkins chartered the Orcas Belle to interested sailing parties. The Belle Waugh water system, serving residents to the north of the farmhouse, was also named after Belle Waugh.
Belle Waugh sold the property to Riley Pleas and Willard Yeakle for $85,000 in 1963. Pleas and Yeakle sold the property to Robert Anderson, Paul Bushue, and Gilbert Johnson, who were educators from Seattle, for $208,000 in early 1968. The ten-acre farm portion of the property was purchased by Jay and Sharon Haglund later in 1968 and has been owned by Bob and Jody Hamaker since 1987. The Hamakers constructed a beautiful pond adjacent to the orchard on their property.
Anderson, Bushue, and Johnson owned approximately 300 acres of Steep Point southwest of Deer Harbor and north of North and Spring Passages. The property included a mile and a half of waterfront, as well as the uplands, that ran north to Sunset Beach Road. The purchase price at that time was about $25 a front foot.
The property was named Spring Point because of its proximity to Spring Passage. Anderson, Bushue, and Johnson formed a group called Spring Point Associates. They divided the waterfront into 48 lots ranging from 110 to 230 feet in width. A sandy beach and dock were left for community use on the eastern portion of the property. A small seasonal stream runs down from the upland area across the beach into the saltwater.
By late 1968 and 1969, primarily by word of mouth, the waterfront lots were quickly purchased on contracts held by Spring Point Associates by educators, architects, physicians, university professors, and other professionals from the Seattle area. Many of these lots were purchased "sight unseen," and the price of the newly subdivided property had risen to about $45 a front foot. Some of the lots were immediately sold to others for the unheard-of price of $60 to $90 a front foot. By 2001, resale of these lots was about $2000 a front foot with no structure. The price of these waterfront lots continued to rise in the years that followed to almost $5000 a front foot.
Access to these waterfront lots was primarily by the pre-existing logging roads. The roads were widened and brought up to the specifications of San Juan County. The view property above the waterfront lots was subdivided into an additional 50 lots with a common area separating the two divisions. The waterfront was called Spring Point Division I, while the upland view property was called Spring Point Division II.
By May of 1970, the original purchasers of the individual waterfront lots formed Spring Point Incorporated with the help of Marvin Durning, who was an eminent Seattle attorney. The original developers, Spring Point Associates, offered to sell the real estate contracts and the remaining undivided portion of the original 300 acres to Spring Point Incorporated at a significant discount. Spring Point Incorporated accepted the offer to purchase the property.
Spring Point Incorporated issued 5000 shares at the rate of 100 shares for each of the purchasers of the waterfront lots. The shareholders voted to accept the offer of Spring Point Associates. The shareholders also agreed to assume the liability of all of the costs of development, including engineering, surveying, and improving the roads and water system until a Homeowners Association could be formed. As the property and other assets were gradually deeded to the homeowners, the homeowners assumed the costs normally associated with maintenance of the infrastructure of Spring Point.
During the 1970s, construction of homes in Spring Point began. The Haglund farmhouse was the original home. The houses of Janet Murray, Max and Bernita Sedenko, Joe and Frances Lane, Chuck and Dorothy Rupprecht, Charlie and Dorothy Demerest, Carl and Libby Milliken, and Sid and Marguerite Gross were among the first to be constructed.
In the spring of 1974, Spring Point Incorporated was approached by a group of Seattle philanthropists who were looking for the donation of a lot on which to build a retreat to be auctioned at the annual Poncho philanthropic auctions in Seattle. The lot was donated, and a house was built on the lot and auctioned at that event. Spring Point Incorporated also donated to the Orcas Center and other endeavors important to residents of Orcas Island. Wherever possible, Spring Point Incorporated contracted with local individuals and businesses to accomplish the needs of the corporation.
About this time, Spring Point Incorporated purchased an additional 20 acres from the Deer Harbor Corporation. This property was southwest of the only access road (Harborview Lane) leading to Spring Point and adjacent to the Sunset Beach Road. A new entrance road to Spring Point (Spring Point Road) was constructed to provide an easier route to the property.
By August 1974, members of Spring Point Incorporated met with some of the new homeowners. The purpose of the meeting was to organize and establish the Spring Point Homeowners Association. Marvin Durning had previously written Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) consistent with his high regard for the environment of Spring Point that were presented to the homeowners to be amended as the homeowners wished.
Joe Lane was elected as the first president of the newly formed Spring Point Homeowners Association. Under Lane's guidance, the new Association worked with Spring Point Incorporated to help improve the roads and the water system and address those problems associated with a new development. Subsequent presidents of the Association were Ben Goodenough, Jack Sheedy, John Ryberg, Janet Murray, Ed Kempe, Linda Peth, Ed Kempe, Jack Conant, Jim Bender, Kevin Golding, Barbara Bedell, Dave Dilling, Bev Polis, and (now currently) Will Gossett. Most of these individuals served more than one term as president of the Association.
In 1976, Spring Point Incorporated was faced with the question of what to do with the remaining undivided portion (approximately 200 acres) of Spring Point. After much discussion, seven alternatives were presented to the shareholders. These alternatives were:
1. Sale of the corporation complete with all its assets and liabilities.
2. Sale of the upland 200 acres.
3. Donation of the land to the Nature Conservancy with its subsequent tax benefits.
4. Distribution of the land to the shareholders of Spring Point Incorporated.
5. Formation of a new corporation to develop the upland 200 acres.
6. Sale of the upland 200 acres to the Homeowners Association.
7. Retention of the land for future development.
The debate that followed was intense. Committees were formed to investigate and make recommendations for each of the alternatives. University of Washington zoology professor Frank Richardson, who had a home on Sunset Beach, was retained by the Nature Conservancy to survey the property. Dr. Richardson concluded his report by stating, "I would say that the area is very attractive, is largely in its natural state, and is moderately rich in plant and animal diversity, but I do not feel that I can recommend it as potential Nature Conservancy property or conservation easement property."
By 1979, Spring Point Incorporated made the decision to follow up on the last alternative: retain the land for future development. San Juan Surveying was engaged to survey and plan for the subdivision of the property. The land was subdivided into fifteen-acre parcels to be sold as undeveloped land with no water service. These fifteen-acre parcels could be further subdivided into three five-acre parcels with an interval of five years between sub-divisions. The area was called Spring Point Division III (now called Spring Point B & C [Chartwell]). In the spring of 2000, Spring Point Incorporated sold the last of these parcels. As a result of this sale, Spring Point Incorporated was dissolved and ceased to exist as an entity.
Scarcity of fresh water has been a constant problem in most of San Juan County. Drilled wells are often infiltrated with salt water. Surface water is determined by the amount of rainfall that is often minimal due to the rain shadow effect of the Olympic Mountains. Spring Point is fortunate to have a wetland area with three small ponds in the middle of the property. A small dam was constructed to contain the runoff of nearly four acres in this area.
The expanded pond that was created is now known as Jay's Pond, named after Jay Haglund. Haglund loved this pond and often stocked it with rainbow trout and fresh water crayfish. Below Jay's Pond (south) is Max's Pond, named after Max Sedenko. Sedenko was one of the early caretakers of the waterworks along with Charlie Demerest. A third pond, about a half-acre in size, was created west of Max's Pond. This pond was named Clyde's Pond after Dr. Clyde Boice. Clyde, Betty, and Allison Boice were residents of Spring Point for many years, during which Clyde was the manager of the Spring Point waterworks. Fred Herrle followed Boice as manager, and the entire community appreciated the latter's dedication.
Roy Stanton, although not a resident of Spring Point was hired to take over the job of producing high quality water for the community. In 2018 Tom Walker received his State of WA Department of Health licensing and was hired by SPHA to replace the retiring Roy Stanton. Ken Gibbs, a
resident and SPHA board member, volunteered to replace Dave Dilling to work with Tom Walker on our community water system.
When residents Don & Sandi McVay decided to retire from reading the water meters quarterly, a service they provided for over 30 years, Tom Walker took over that responsibility as well.
Tom Walker, although not a resident of Spring Point, continues to do an excellent job of producing high quality water for the community. John Ryberg's engineering expertise was invaluable in providing the leadership to start the excellent standards for the water system for the Spring Point community as well as for San Juan County and the State of Washington Department of Health. In 2000-2001, the Spring Point Homeowners Association provided the funding to develop a desalinization plant under John's leadership. The reverse osmosis system is intended as a backup to our main water system.
We continue to improve many areas of our neighborhood:
In 2014, a state-of-the-art aeration and slow sand filter system was completed and put into operation under the leadership of Dave Dilling. This addition to the Spring Point water system replaced the older and less efficient rapid sand filter, thus guaranteeing our supply of pure, fresh water.
In 2016 Spring Point was the 2nd community on Orcas Island to hire Rock Island to install Fiber Optic high speed internet in our Spring Point Community, with great help from Angela Saxe and Norm Zimlich.
In 2018 we chip sealed most of the roads in our neighborhood, thanks to the project management of our Roads Commissioner, Rex Chadwell.
Also in 2018 we created nature trails to enjoy parts of our common land.
Spring Point has changed and grown since its inception, but it remains an area noted for its natural beauty thanks to the residents dedicated to preserving this remarkable place in which we are so fortunate to live.
*Thanks to Jay Haglund for filling in some of the details. Don and Sandi McVay are a vital part of Spring Point�s history, having owned property here since 1968. Don was an officer and board member of Spring Point Incorporated from its beginning. Both Don and Sandi were emeritus biologists, having taught biology students for more than a combined seventy years. They have brought a wealth of knowledge about not only the development of the area, but also about the surrounding natural environment.
Further updates have been made to this history by Ken Gibbs, Susan Chadwell, Judy Sutherland, and others.