The island was originally known as Brown Island, named by Charles Wilkes for fourteen members of his United States Exploring Expedition crew who shared the same surname. It was later acquired by Victor McConnell, its first settler, who claimed squatters' rights.[1]
McConnell Island was purchased at the end of World War II by Thomas Gordon Thompson, a University of Washington professor and U.S. Army chemical warfare researcher who was later the namesake of the USNS Thomas Thompson and R/V Thomas Thompson.[4][5] Thompson financed the purchase of the island through the sale of his valuable stamp collection and later built a home on it from native stone and driftwood.[6] During his proprietorship of the remote island, Thompson used it to entertain friends and guests from the nearby Friday Harbor Laboratories. In one summer alone he received more than 700 visitors.[6]
In 1997 a 9-acre (3.6 ha) portion of the island was transferred to the San Juan Preservation Trust, a private conservation organization, to be used as a nature preserve. What is known as the Thompson Preserve includes 985 feet (300 m) of protected shoreline as well as the original Thomas Thompson home.[7] The rest of the island remains under private ownership.[8]
