What the Heck Fest

The tradition & historical record

Anacortes ( AN-ə-KOR-təs) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman. Anacortes' population was 17,637 at the time of the 2020 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Mount Vernon-Anacortes Metropolitan Statistical Area. Anacortes is known for the Washington State Ferries dock and terminal serving Lopez Island, Shaw Island, Orcas Island, and San Juan Island. There is also a Skagit County-operated ferry that serves Guemes Island, a residential island located across Guemes Channel, north of Anacortes. ¹

Anacortes is within the historical territory of the Samish people. Anacortes was officially incorporated on May 19, 1891. In 1877, railroad surveyor and town founder Amos Bowman moved his family to the northern tip of Fidalgo Island. Bowman began promoting the area as an obvious terminus for the Northern Pacific Railway as it was built through the north Cascades to the Pacific. Bowman established the town's first newspaper, The Northwest Enterprise, to promote his vision of the New York of the West. Seattle and Northern Company began building a rail line from the town in 1888. Real estate and development boomed from 1888 to 1890 as a result of the railroad rumors, and the Oregon Improvement Company posted $15 million in bonds to develop the town. In 1891, the real estate bubble burst. Speculators lost money and the Oregon Improvement Company could no longer afford to complete tracks over the Cascades. The town failed to become the railroad terminus Bowman had envisioned. A second newspaper, the Anacortes American was established in 1890, and digitized copies of its publication from inception through December 2000 are searchable at the Washington State Library's archives. In 1960, the paper's masthead showed it was an affiliate member of the National Editorial Association. ¹

After the 1891 bust, the town became prominent for its fishing tradition, thriving canning industry, and timber mills. ¹

Anacortes is on Fidalgo Island. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.53 square miles (40.22 km2), of which 11.75 square miles (30.43 km2) is land and 3.78 square miles (9.79 km2) is water. The area around the city includes cliffs and bluffs with bedrock deposits that date to 160 million years before present. The landforms were shaped by a major glaciation event 15,000 years before present. ¹

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Anacortes has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) with cool, rainy winters and warm, dry summers. ¹

As of the 2020 census, Anacortes had a population of 17,637. The median age was 50.7 years. 17.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 31.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.6 males age 18 and over. 98.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.2% lived in rural areas. There were 7,826 households in Anacortes, of which 22.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 52.1% were married-couple households, 15.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 8,395 housing units, of which 6.8% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 2.8%. ¹

As of the 2010 census, there were 15,778 people, 6,980 households, and 4,461 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,342.8 inhabitants per square mile (518.5/km2). There were 7,680 housing units at an average density of 653.6 per square mile (252.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 91.5% White, 0.7% African American, 1.0% Native American, 1.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.6% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.0% of the population. There were 6,980 households, of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.1% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.75. The median age in the city was 47.2 years. 19.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.4% were from 25 to 44; 29.9% were from 45 to 64; and 22.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.9% male and 52.1% female. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Anacortes, Washington”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

What the Heck Fest is annual festival in Anacortes, Washington, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²