Down a long, winding road next to the Vashon Cemetery, nestled in a dark forest of towering firs, sits an iconic Vashon building and organization: the Vashon Sportsmen’s Club. But it was not always that way. As can be seen at the lower right in the 1940 photograph by Norman Edson, taken shortly after the clubhouse was constructed, the site was, at one time, clear cut and almost totally devoid of trees, like much of the rest of Vashon-Maury Island at that time.

But times change, and after 76 years of Sportsmen’s Club stewardship, as seen in the 2016 Terry Donnelly photograph, the site is now heavily forested. It features a fine fishing pond and an elaborate, well-designed shooting range. The clubhouse, although expanded and updated, still retains the unique feel of the original 1940s structure.

Just as the Sportsmen’s Club site has changed, so has the club’s role in the community. It was originally organized as a gun club in 1928, but in February 1933, 29 islanders met and formed the Vashon Sportsmen’s Club.

Their purpose was to preserve the game animals already on the island and to secure new stocks of game animals for hunting and fishing. To accomplish this goal, the club organized predator hunts that sought to rid the island of feral cats, crows, kingfishers and blue jays.

Today, the Sportsmen’s Club is a leader in supporting sustainable hunting and fishing and in preserving outdoor recreational skills and activities. The clubhouse also provides a meeting place for other groups, including the VFW, the Boy Scouts and the Cub Scouts.

The Sportsmen’s Club organized its first fishing derby in 1937, and later named it for avid fisherman and club member Frank Matsumoto. The club also stocked island streams with trout and salmon and has worked to keep outdoor sporting skills alive and well on Vashon.

The Sportsmen’s Club headed the attempt to develop a 5-square-mile island game preserve in the mid-1930s, which garnered support from the state and from national hunting organizations, but the proposal never got the funding needed to make it a reality.

The site for the clubhouse was chosen in 1937, and that year Masa Mukai, using his tractor, and Al Roen, running the grader, with the help of club members, created the road that now leads to the club. Three years later, the clubhouse was built using the unusual method of vertical logs rather than the traditional horizontal log cabin style. To this day, the clubhouse is one of the very few vertical log outdoor clubhouses in the country.

Tijuana Nights were famous fundraisers held in the 1950s and ’60s, until, in 1979, the “gambling” (they used chips) was raided and the club fined $1,000. The lighted Tijuana sign still proudly hangs in the covered deck area, reminding club members of their close call with the law. The annual New Year’s Eve parties at the club are always lively affairs.

The Sportsmen’s Club is a vital part of the Vashon community, supporting hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation on the island, as well as providing a social gathering place for more than 80 years.

— Bruce Haulman is an island historian. Terry Donnelly is an island photographer.