Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve

Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve. Where the present partners with the past. , You are standing in the nation's first historical reserve, a unique unit of the National Park Service., The Reserve was originally championed by a group of concerned residents in the 1970s when Ebey's Prairie was subdivided for large-scale development that threatened to fragment historic farmlands - a fate that would have diminished not just the land's scenic character, but its links to its heritage as well. Their advocacy led to the formation of Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve., Estabished as a unique partnership, the Reserve is managed by a local Trust Board, comprised of representatives of the Town of Coupeville, Island County, Washington State Parks and the National Park Service., In 1978 Congress established Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve in order to preserve and protect a living rural community which provides an unbroken historical record of Puget Sound from the era of exclusive native habitation to the present time. More than just a beautiful landscape, this Reserve is a living chronicle of our region's founding stories, commemorating in particular:, . The first thorough exploration of the Puget Sound area by Captain George Vancouver in 1792, . The first permanent Euro-American settlement on Whidbey Island by Isaac Neff Ebey, his important contributions to the establishment of the Washington Territory, and his premature death in 1857 during a period of Indian unrest, . Early active Euro-American settlement during the years of the Donation Land Law (1850-1855) and thereafter, . The growth of the historic seaport town of Coupeville, named for the first merchant seaman to establish a claim on the site of the future town, Captain Thomas Coupe, This ongoing preservation experiment offers creative solutions to modern land-use challenges through numerous partnerships between government and the private sector. Approximately eighty-five percent of the 17,572-acre Reserve is privately owned, but through collaboration, the rural character of the landscape - and the significant stories it holds - is preserved for future generations to experience.