Big Lake, Washington
census-designated place in Skagit County, Washington, United States
Big Lake is a census-designated place (CDP) in Skagit County, Washington, United States. As of the 2020 census, Big Lake had a population of 2,980. It is included in the Mount Vernon–Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Big Lake is an exurban community in a fairly rural setting, although recent years have seen significant suburban development. The area, however, has remained primarily residential. A few notable exceptions include a playable 9-hole golf course on the lake's east side, a 1950s-themed bar & grill, a quaint community store, and a small elementary school. The latter two are located at the historic north end of the lake, once a bustling logging town. A fire destroyed much of the town proper in the early 1900s, and that which was lost was never rebuilt.
Based on per capita income, Big Lake ranks 134th of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.7 square miles (12.3 km2), of which, 4.0 square miles (10.2 km2) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.0 km2) of it (16.46%) is water.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Big Lake, Washington” is census-designated place in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Lake, Washington and census-designated, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “census-designated place in Skagit County, Washington, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1509489. Authority coordinates are 48.393, -122.236. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Big Lake, Washington”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Big Lake, Washington primary sources, Big Lake, Washington archive and Lake research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Big Lake, Washington”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Big Lake, Washington” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.