Exhibits /
Island Photography:
The Images of James Geoghegan
A significant component of OIHM archives consists of negatives and images produced by photographer James (Jim) Geoghegan. A few years ago volunteer photographers created prints from these negatives. The resulting images depict wonderful scenes of island life occurring between 1913 and 1939 such as weddings, children waiting for the school bus, and ball games held at low tide on Crescent Beach.
Twenty-year old Jim left England in 1889 and traveled to Orcas Island with his brother Fred where they homesteaded property north of Cascade Lake. In 1891 their mother and four siblings left England to join them on Orcas. The homestead site was sold and the family moved to a farm located northeast of Eastsound Village. Jim eventually left the island and worked in Seattle as an optician, watch repairer, and a lens grinder. In 1897 he traveled to Alaska to stake his claim during the Klondike gold rush but returned to Orcas in 1913 after the death of his mother. To earn money he converted many of his photos into hand-tinted postcards and sold them at Templin’s Store in Eastsound, and at Orcas and Deer Harbor stores. Jim sold his island home in 1943 and moved to California where he died ten years later.
