Amos Bowman named city for his wife, Annie Curtis, 1879.
Original Photo
The original photo used as reference for the mural was photographed by an unknown photographer circa 1880.
Amos Bowman, 1839-1894, was the founder of Anacortes, which ne named after his wife, Annie Curtis Bowman.
A native of Ontario, Canada, he was a highly educated man. He worked for Horace Greeley's New York Tribune and the Sacramento (Calif.) Union before earning a mining and civil engineering degree in Germany from the universities of Freiberg and Munich. He led the California State Geological Survey for four years.
By 1876 he was in the Seattle area surveying for railroad interests and thus became acquainted with Fidalgo Island. The April 13, 1877 Daily Pacific Tribune reported, "Mr. Amos Bowman of this city, is now in Olympia working up a plan to construct the Olympia-Tenino Railroad. " By 1877 he was on Fidalgo Island, convinced of the area's potential as a great port and terminus of the transcontinental railroad. He built a store and small wharf on his land on the Guemes Channel, acreage he had purchased from Maude Stevens, daughter of Washington's first territorial governor.
He established the Anacortes post office March 24, 1879, naming it for his wife, Annie Curtis Bowman -- changing the spelling somewhat to "reflect the Spanish sounds of neighboring place names." That same year he purchased a schooner named FIDALGO TRAVELER to haul goods, as well as machinery for starting a sawmill.
He launched the island's first newspaper, NORTHWEST ENTERPRISE, in March 1882. That same year he purchased a schooner named FIDALGO TRAVELER to haul goods, as well as machinery for starting a sawmill.
When the railroad boom of 1883 bypassed Anacortes, Bowman devoted his energies elsewhere. NORTHWEST ENTERPRISE articles of 1882-1886 frequently mention Bowman being elsewhere, primarily in Canada or at his property at Sumas. 7-25-1885: "Amos Bowman serves as mining and civil engineer for the Dominion Geological Survey." 10-31-1885: "Amos Bowman has removed his family to Sumas where they will remain during part of the winter."
When the impending railroad boom of 1889-1890 geared up, Bowman returned to Anacortes and worked to ensure that his town would become a railroad terminus. He also built a hotel in 1890, but it burned to the ground in December 1891. Soon afterward, the railroad again dashed his hopes, the boom collapsed, and then the nationwide Panic of 1893 crushed his town's fortunes. Bowman caught cold during a boat excursion, and it worsened. He died at his home on Cap Sante at age 54 on June 18, 1894. He was buried in Fernhill Cemetery, and later exhumed and moved to Grand View Cemetery, where he rests next to Annie.
— Anacortes Historic Photo Archive
