1955 Billingsley Pictorial Map of Vashon-Maury Island, Washington

A whimsical c. 1955 pictorial map of Vashon and Maury Islands in Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, Washington, drawn by local resident Joy Billingsley.

A Closer Look

Covering Vashon and Maury Islands (actually one island connected by a narrow isthmus) and their vicinity, the map marks churches, lighthouses, stores, camps, parks, radio towers, schools, scenic vistas, beaches, a golf course, and other locations. Many of these sites appear in photographs on the verso, along with pictures of local agricultural produce. Boats, trees, animals, and human figures are illustrated throughout. Black squares appear to mark out every structure on the islands in the style of U.S. Coast Survey charts.

Proposed Bridge

The proposed bridge seen at top has long been considered but never built, as groups of residents on Vashon Island have resisted it to preserve the mostly rural character of the island (an easy connection to Seattle would almost certainly result in the islands' rapid suburbanization). Therefore, travel to and from Vashon-Maury is typically accomplished by ferry. An airport (the Vashon Municipal Airport) was later built, further north of the site seen here, on land purchased from a locally prominent Japanese-American family of strawberry growers.

Publication History and Census

This pictorial map was drawn by Harriet Joy Billingsley and published by the Vashon Maury Island Chamber of Commerce around 1955. A dated 1958 edition, revised from the present map by D. J. Sweeny, was later published with a different set of photographs on the verso. The University of Washington also holds a c. 1960 example issued by the Vashon Commercial Club rather than the Chamber of Commerce (OCLC 1401837985). Any of these editions are quite rare in institutional collections, with the present edition only being held by the Washington State Library.