Island County was a county before the Washington was a state. The first boundaries were set in 1853. Mostly through the efforts of Col. Ebey, representative from Thurston County, Island County became a county in its own right on Jan. 22, 1853, and included Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom and San Juan and the county seat was Coveland. Coveland was located at the end of Penn Cove, where the old courthouse still stands. Ebey also asked the legislature for $20,000 for a military road from Steilacoom to Walla Walla.
The first regular business of the new Island County was to consider a road from Ebey’s Landing to Coveland. The road was cut through Rhododendron Park to Kennedy’s Lagoon, all by volunteers.
One pioneer story was that John Alexander was the only one with the distinction of carrying white bread in his lunch.
In those days commissioners were allowed 10 cents a mile travel expenses, $3 a meeting and the clerk was alotted $3 a day for his services. He was also permitted to buy a case of pidgeon holes for his desk which amounted to $5.
The first school tax, a levy of two mills, was passed in 1853.
In May of 1892, Whidbey Island’s first bank, the Bank of Coupeville, opened its doors — its capital was $25,000. E.J. Hancock was vice president and directors included a list of good old settler names including Flora Engle and Capt. Lovejoy. Some stockholders were George Nunan, A.R. Kineth, Thomas Calhoun, I. Sill, Thomas Nunan, James Gillespie and George Libbey. It looked as though the bank would prosper with its imposing list of names of bank officers and directors. However in 19 months depositors found a closed sign on the door. Cashier Beale had signed notes over to himself for more than $11,100 and more than $6,000 was due depositors.
When Oak Harbor deep-sea Capt. George Morris first saw the small island between Fidalgo and Whidbey, he visualized it as a pier which, he told his children would someday be built. As state representative in 1897, he introduced the first bill calling for the erection of Deception Pass Bridge and obtained $20,000 appropriation for its construction. It took 38 years for this to be accomplished and Deception Pass Bridge as we know it today was opened in 1935 with Pearl Wanamaker as speaker.
Dorothy Neil has gathered and recorded Whidbey Island history for more than 50 years. Her 10 books chronicle Whidbey life and times.
