The story of Lopez Island is a story of community. Skilled, brave, generous people like Sampson Chadwick, Mother Brown, Captain Barlow, and Amelia Davis carved a spirited, nurturing community out of seaside wilderness. Homesteaders cleared forests, built farms, grew food, and raised large families, surviving then thriving together. The hamlets of Port Stanley, Richardson, and Lopez emerged, creating hubs with stores, post offices, and schools as well as thriving fishing, canning, and shipping industries. The community fostered education, music, writing, dances, chivarees, baseball, quilting, a birthday club, and grand Fourth of July celebrations. Living self-reliant lives while helping friends, neighbors, and newcomers, Lopezians created a unique community character that abides today.

The Lopez Island Historical Society and Museum's mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, and share local history. Housed in Lopez Village and at the restored Port Stanley Schoolhouse, the society maintains a collection of nearly 10,000 historical Lopez Island photographs from which this book's images were selected. Author Susan Ferguson began researching and writing local history through the Nearby History program at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle and has been a part of the Lopez community for over 20 years.