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Port of Anacortes History: William McCracken

Port of Anacortes History: William McCracken

By Trail Tales Docent Peyton Kane

W McCracken 2The vibrant Port of Anacortes is the result of many years of effort, and many people with foresight, vision, drive and connections.  Here is a picture of one of them (courtesy Anacortes American):  William F. McCracken, Jr. who served on the first board of commissioners of Port of Anacortes from 1926 to 1929.  

William McCracken was born in 1892, and lived in Anacortes from early childhood.  His father, of the same name, owned and operated the Eureka Saloon at the northwest corner of 4th Street and Commercial Avenue, and the family lived in the home behind the saloon, (now occupied by the graphic arts firm, How It Works).  In 1929 the wooden structure that housed the Eureka Saloon burned down, and William, Jr. built a new brick building on the site, which currently holds the Rock Fish Grill.  

William Jr. served as director of the Bank of Commerce, a locally owned operation which first opened in 1899 in the Platt Building, and then moved in 1926, into its new building – also built by William McCracken, Jr., on the southwest corner of 5th Street and Commercial Avenue, (currently occupied by the Gere-a-deli Restaurant) . The Depression of 1929 contributed to the closing of the Bank of Commerce in 1936.  

Prior to his term on the Port Commission Board, which was from 1926 to 1929, McCracken served as an Anacortes City Councilor for ten years.  He promoted the paving of Commercial Avenue in 1916, as well as the expansion of the City water system in 1930 that enabled water intensive industries such as the pulp mill, the veneer mill, and the oil refineries to locate in Anacortes. 

Following his term with the Port, William McCracken, Jr., served in the State Legislature from 1929 to 1932.  He promoted the building of the Deception Pass Bridge in 1935.  He married Maude Trafton in 1914.  He died after 1964.  

 

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