Marker Logo HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Coupeville in Island County, Washington — The American West (Northwest)
 

Explore the Reserve

 
 
Explore the Reserve Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., August 1, 2021
1. Explore the Reserve Marker
Inscription.

Places to visit

1 Island County Museum

908 NW Alexander Street
The Island County Museum features local and regional history. Ice Age relics, woolly mammoth remains, a Native American collection that includes cedar dugout canoes, as well as artifacts of early settlement, maritime trade and even the first automobile on Whidbey Island. Information on Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve [is] available.

2 Coupeville Chamber of Commerce
[Informational and not transcribed]

3 Coupeville Wharf
Corner of NW Alexander and Front Street
The historic Coupeville Wharf, once a busy port, now houses shops and exhibits. [balance is informational]

4 Sunnyside Cemetery
Cemetery Road
Many of Whidbey Island's pioneer settlers, including namesakes Isaac Ebey and Thomas Coupe, are buried in the cemetery on the ridge overlooking Ebey's Prairie. The Davis Blockhouse is found at the back of the cemetery.

5 Jacob Ebey House & Blockhouse
Ebey's Prairie Trail
First American settler and Reserve namesake Isaac Ebey invited his family to follow him to the Prairie in 1852. His parents Jacob and Sarah and all his siblings followed. Jacob built this house in 1855,
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
Click or scan to see
this page online
adding the blockhouse as protection against hostile northern Indians several years later. It survives as one of the oldest homes in Washington State.

6 Ferry House
South Ebey Road at the beach
The Ferry House (or Ebey Inn) was built by the Ebey family in 1860 as a public house at Ebey's Landing, intended to provide income to Isaac Ebey's orphaned sons after his untimely death in 1857. It enjoyed a lively traffic of travelers passing between Port Townsend and Coupeville in the early days of American settlement. The Ferry House is an exterior exhibit only.

7 Admiralty Head Lighthouse
Within Fort Casey State Park
Built in 1861 and rebuilt in 1903, this historic lighthouse guided tall ships toward the Whidbey Island shore where they could fill their sails with wind. [balance informational]

[At top right]
Central Whidbey Island has always been a great turnstile for the natural system of marine highways that connect Georgia Strait, Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca - the Salish Sea - and beyond.

Our region represents the southern terminus of the Inside Passage, a 1,000-mile long waterway among coastal islands from Washington to Alaska. Northwest Coastal Indians traveled this great distance in grand cedar canoes to connect with a vast trade network. Today, as then, more
Explore the Reserve Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., August 1, 2021
2. Explore the Reserve Marker
than a thousand islands afford mariners protection from the heavy weather and high seas of the open ocean.

[Small Whidbey Island map at center right reads]
Native peoples and fur traders from as far north as Alaska traveled the protected waters of the Inside Passage to reach the Salish Sea - both to trade and raid.

Upon its discovery in 1787, explorers raced into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, hoping it was the Northwest Passage that would connect them with Hudson's Bay in the east. Despite the disappointment, fur trade vessels to and from China and the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) made fortunes for many.

American immigration and maritime commerce from the American Northwest first came by ship around Cape Horn. Seafaring men from New England and Nova Scotia blazed the water trail that the earliest immigrants would follow. Even overland trails first brought settlers to Portland or San Francisco, where many then caught vessels for Puget Sound.

[Remaining text is informational, not historical]
 
Erected by National Park Service.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & CommerceNative AmericansSettlements & SettlersWaterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1852.
 
Location. 48° 13.282′ 
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
N, 122° 41.301′ W. Marker is in Coupeville, Washington, in Island County. Marker is at the intersection of Front Street NW and NW Alexander Street, on the right when traveling west on Front Street NW. Marker is near the entrance to the historic wharf. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Coupeville WA 98239, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve (here, next to this marker); Welcome (a few steps from this marker); In Home Port After Eight Decades (a few steps from this marker); A Canoe Crossroads (within shouting distance of this marker); Water Highways (within shouting distance of this marker); Original Home of Seattle’s Best Coffee (within shouting distance of this marker); Keeping the Alexander Blockhouse alive!!! (within shouting distance of this marker); Cross Built for Father Blanchet's Visit (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Coupeville.
 
Also see . . .
1. Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve. (Submitted on August 12, 2021, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
2. Island County Historical Society. (Submitted on August 12, 2021, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on August 12, 2021. It was originally submitted on August 12, 2021, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 112 times since then and 5 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on August 12, 2021, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Share this page.  
Share on Tumblr
m=179321

CeraNet Cloud Computing sponsors the Historical Marker Database.
This website earns income from purchases you make after using our links to Amazon.com. We appreciate your support.
Paid Advertisements
Mar. 29, 2024