The Poet of Whidbey. September 18, 1929.
While researching another topic for our upcoming Fall newsletter, we came across this gem from the September 18, 1929 Tacoma Ledger newspaper about Bay View resident Paul Cunningham, then 83 years old. He represented Whidbey Island's agricultural display at the...
The Big Blow of October 12, 1962.
Do you remember The Big Blow of October 12, 1962? It was one of the worst windstorms in the Pacific Northwest in a long line of windstorms. (See Wikipedia article below.) If you have any recollections, we would love to have you share them here. Sunday's storm may not...
Scams January 30, 1915.
Scams are nothing new. Consider this cautionary tale from January 30, 1915 from the Island County Times... "Mike the blacksmith [who helped Anton "Blackie" Anderson run the blacksmith shop in Langley for some time] left for California January 1 intending to spend some...
Mutiny Bay School Principal and Teacher Charged With Disloyalty in 1918.
Mutiny Bay School Principal and Teacher Charged With Disloyalty in 1918 Strong political feelings are nothing new to South Whidbey. In 1900 a Utopian Socialist Colony – the Free Land Association -- was established in present day Freeland. The Brotherhood of the...
Langley 130 Years Ago…
Wonder what was going on in Langley 130 years ago? Well, just like today, there was a bear around, real estate was being sold, tourists were visiting, berries were ripening, and fish were abundant.Read on for this August 14, 1891 Island County Times...
Double Bluff Resort
Before it became a public picnic area, the entrance to Double Bluff Beach was a fishing resort known for fly-fishing of silver salmon. It was originally owned by Chris Jensen and later sold to Esther and Crawford Johnston, and still later to Orie and...
South Whidbey Goes to the Chickens (and the Turkeys)
This article was from our recent Then and Now newsletter...Corydon and Ella (Hart) Melendy moved from South Dakota just three years into their marriage. Ella’s sister had moved to South Whidbey in 1896 and taught school in a one-room log schoolhouse (possibly the...
Virgil & Mabel Auvil
Virgil Auvil was born in 1896 in Auviltown, West Virginia, the eldest of 10 children. His father, Wayne, was a farmer who ventured west after his father died in 1909. He worked on farms in Snohomish County.After serving in WWI , Virgil and his brother, Ray, became...