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West Sound

A store and post office serve the community, represented by a row of attractive houses along the shore of White Beach Bay, an indentation of West Sound.

West Sound is an inlet on the southwest side of Orcas Island. It was named Guerriere Bay by Cmdr. Charles Wilkes, for a British ship captured by U.S.S. Constitution during the War of 1812. In 1858, that name was replaced when the present name was charted by Capt. Henry Richards, British Admiralty surveyor. The name is in relation to East Sound, on Orcas Island, which is several miles east. The Lummi name for the inlet was Al-lay-ling. The community of West Sound is on the eastern shore of the sound.

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West Sound Community Hall

The West Sound Community Hall of Orcas Island was built in the early 1900’s by a group of neighborhood volunteers. The land was donated by Alexander Chalmers, a piece from his own farm land. The architecture of the building was typical of the times, a simple rectangular structure with a hip roof. The interior had one great room built in the style of a one room school house. However, there is no evidence it was ever used a school. Since it’s construction, the hall has served as a focal point for social events of the West Sound community as well as public meetings and educational and political gatherings for the entire island of Orcas.

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