Editing Vashon, Washington (section)

===Euramerican settlement===
The first non–Native American to explore and the first to chart this island was Captain [[George Vancouver]], during his surveys of the Puget Sound area with the [[Royal Navy|British Royal Navy]]. The island was named on May 28, 1792, by Vancouver after his friend [[James Vashon]] of the Royal Navy. Starting in 1824, different explorer and settler groups stayed on Vashon Island.

[[Maury Island]], immediately to the southeast of Vashon, was named in 1841 by then Lt. [[Charles Wilkes]] in honor of [[William Lewis Maury]], an officer in the [[United States Exploring Expedition]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vashonhistory.com/Vashon%20History/place_name.htm#M|title = Place Name Project}}</ref> Maury was naturally separated from Vashon by a narrow passage, until local landowners decided to build an earth bridge, or [[isthmus]], linking them together in 1916, thus creating the hamlet of [[Portage, Washington|Portage]]. Therefore, the two-piece isle was renamed Vashon-Maury Island. Between the two sections, it covers nearly {{convert|37|sqmi}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vashon-Maury Vashon Island History|url=https://vashon-maury.com/vashon-island-history/|website=Vashon-Maury.com|access-date=2018-04-21}}</ref>

The first [[logging]] on the island began in 1852. By 1855–1856, the S'Homamish people were interned at Fox Island. European-Americans settled Vashon Island between 1865 and 1890. During that time the main economies on the island were fishing and logging.

In 1890, Japanese Americans started growing [[strawberries]] for sale. Denichiro Mukai came to the island in 1910 and became renowned for barreling fresh strawberries using a special method that concentrated flavor and moisture in the fruit and permitted long-distance shipping. In time, Mukai designed and built his own home and elaborate garden and then constructed a sturdy timber framed barreling plant. During the peak years, ice cream, jam and preserve makers across the West were customers of Mukai, relishing the oak barrels for their lingering flavor and mythologizing about the island of strawberry fields. This became an important part of the island economy during the next 50 years, until the Japanese American population was forcibly relocated into internment camps as a response to Japanese/American tension caused by WWII.

In 1892, [[Vashon College]] opened in the Burton section of Vashon.<ref name="VINR1931">{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=A.C. |last2=St. John |first2=Geo. E. |date=September 10, 1931 |title=History of Vashon College |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/vashon-island-news-record-history-of-vas/162393147/ |work=[[Vashon Island News-Record]]}}</ref> During its operation, it was one of the leading colleges in the area. It burned down in 1910.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tacomahistory.live/2017/05/01/strawberry-fields-forever/|title = Strawberry Fields Forever|date = 2 May 2017}}</ref>