Smith Island is located in the eastern part of the Juan de Fuca Strait, Washington, about halfway between Admiralty Inlet and Lopez Island. Smith Island was mainly known for its powerful lighthouse and foghorn.1 Spanish explorer José María Narváez named it Isla De Bonila in 1741.2 In 1841, the Wilkes Expedition named it “Blunt's Island” after a midshipman of the
expedition; historians speculate that the present name for Smith Island was probably
introduced by the HBC.3
1. Edmond S. Meany, Origin of Washington Geographic Names (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1923), 277.
2. Harry Majors, Exploring Washington (Washing: Van Winkle Publishing, 1975), 21.
3. Meany, Origin of Washington Geographic Names, 277.