We enjoy when our FB followers share their memories of living on Whidbey Island. Here's a recent one by Dick Bryant with attached ferry photos... A COUPLE OF OLD FERRIES by Dick Bryant As a resident of South Whidbey for the first 20 years of my life, I became quite...

A few photos and clippings from the 1960 Island County Fair...

A view of Maxwelton taken in the 1950s.

Through the 30s, 40s, and 50s, Bayview Corner was a hub of life and activity on South Whidbey. With an elementary school, a community hall, a gas station, mercantile, feed store, auto garage, and even a tavern and hotel for a short window of time, Bayview had...

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF THE FAIR... Sandy Peterson Nelson (left) and her sister Susie Peterson Blackstock stopped in at the Whidbey Island Fair today and found a photo of them as kids in the 1949 Kiddie Parade along with big sister Sharon Peterson Gould. They are on the...

Nearly 100 people attended today's South Whidbey Historical Society presentation by local researcher Kyle Walker on a project which encompasses Snohomish Tribal history on South Whidbey between 1850 and 1920 , with a focus on Sandy Point. Special thanks to Snohomish...

Patricia Guthrie's article about a log house discovered during an attempted demolition is in this morning's Whidbey News Times. In our next post we'll provide additional information on past owners of the property. Some south Whidbey residents may know the house as the...

It's been nearly a year ago that we lost South Whidbey's 'Conductor of Fun' Jim Freeman. Jim emceed many, many events on South Whidbey over the decades and was known for his gentle humor, kindness, and for being an all-around great guy. There will be a memorial...

This June 10, 1942 column in the Seattle Star by Chick Garrett reports on the rising rabbit population on the Island, especially with WWII hunting restrictions. We were curious about the South Whidbey person who brought rabbits to the Island and found a 1900 Island...

Feliks Banel, resident historian of KIRO Radio, and podcaster of MyNorthwest.com interviewed Bill Haroldson (SWHS Board President) on KIRO Radio this morning about the recently discovered will of Joseph Whidbey. Thanks for the shout-out, Feliks!...

  On the outskirts of the Langley area, to the southeast, on what is now Wilkinson Road, a Scottish man, John MacDonald, (sometimes spelled McDonald) and his wife, Mary, established their home.  John left Glasgow, Scotland in 1879 and Mary and their three children...

TALL TALES of CLAMS AND CURRENTS... BUT TRUE We thought this brief article from the May 24, 1889 Mason County Journal worth sharing... ---------------- When General Winfield Scott was on the Sound to quiet the San Juan disturbance in 1859 [the Pig War], Lieutenant R....

Kudos to journalist Kira Erickson of the Whidbey News Times, and photographer David Welton, for the cover story on today's issue of the WNT about the will of island namesake Joseph Whidbey and how it made its way to the South Whidbey Historical Society. Click below to...

By the mid-1880s the area that would become Langley had pretty much been clear-cut for cords of firewood to power the steamer ferries, and the brush was transported to Seattle to help fill in the dock areas. Tree stumps dotted the streets, and roads were muddy most of...

Do you know what catarrh is? Ague? How about Dropsy? Apoplexy? Consumption? Scrofula? While doing research on South Whidbey residents prior to 1920, we have sometimes come across such terms in their obituaries or on their death certificates. We thought we would share...

Langley was quite the destination for the Everett Grocer's and Butcher's Picnic on Wednesday, July 22, 1914. According to the advertisement, ferries ran from the City Dock every few minutes, with adult fares 35 cents and children 25 cents both roundtrip. And what to...

Murder on South Whidbey... The year was 1872 and there were few white settlers on South Whidbey. As loggers cleared the forests within easy reach of the bays and inlets, men began to stake claims, build cabins and start farming. One such man was Daniel Dale of...

Did you know that at one time Island County was very large and comprised all of what would become Whatcom, Snohomish and San Juan counties? For a brief time, it was the second largest county in WA Territory. On this date (January 14) in 1861, Snohomish County was...

On December 30, 1875, the three-masted, 161-foot long bark Windward was pushed aground at Useless Bay by a strong southwesterly gale. The ship was carrying 525,000 feet of lumber from Colman's Mill in Seattle, heading for San Francisco. According to the January 6,...

From our most recent newsletter... UNTANGLING A WEB OF HISTORY AT SANDY POINT An 1860 Snohomish Tribe village just south of Langley is the starting point of the Tangled Web of History research project being sponsored by the South Whidbey Historical Society. After...

Before he was a state game protector (now called a game warden) for 30 years on Whidbey, and before he owned Bercot's Fishing Resort on Holmes Harbor, Dode Bercot was a Pacific Northwest boxing sensation. It was just a little over 100 years ago that Dode first began...

Scenes of the season from yesteryear... If you like the work we are doing at the South Whidbey Historical Society, please consider making a year-end, tax-deductible gift at the link below. Thank you! https://www.paypal.com/donate/...

Sixty years ago today one of South Whidbey’s earliest and most enduring charities was started: Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores. It began near Christmastime in 1962, when a group of friends from various churches came up with an idea to spread some Good Cheer...