A Closer Look - the Des Moines Pier

At the northwest corner of the Des Moines Marina, the Fishing Pier will take you out over Puget Sound and as close as you can get to Maury Island without a boat. At the northeast tip of Maury Island, nearest to the Fishing Pier, is the lighthouse at Point Robinson. Built in 1915, uniformed Coast Guardsman were stationed at Point Robinson until 1989. The site  was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, and is now a 10-acre shoreline park and historical and marine conservancy. 

Maury Island used to be separate from the larger Vashon Island to its immediate north. The small channel between the islands was filled in 1913 with "the isthmus." The now-single island is known as "Vashon-Maury Island," but many islanders remain fiercely independent about their origins within this historical geography.

According to Harold Dahl's UFO account, he saw "6 flying discs" just off the East Bay of Maury Island. There is no record as to how far the North Queen found herself off the East Bay when the flying discs arrived - but because of the reigning slag-fire, Dahl reported that he beached the North Queen and hid "under the cliffs." The research team behind the film, The Maury Island Incident, believe this and other evidence suggests Dahl beached the North Queen just below the former sand-and-gravel quarry - now a King County park, named the Maury Island Natural Area.