Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve: Expanded Home Page

prairie within Ebey's Landing NHR

Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve is a new kind of national park. It was created by Congress in 1978 "to preserve and protect a rural community which provides an unbroken historic record from...19th century exploration and settlement in Puget Sound to the present time." The people of Central Whidbey Island urged its creation, realizing that the area's unspoiled natural beauty and many historic sites portray the dramatic story of Pacific Northwest exploration and westward migration, an important chapter in our nation's history.

Enduring patterns of community life in such a setting have created a unique cultural landscape. The vistas, woodlands, and fertile prairies of the Reserve are much the same today as they were 100 years ago when New England sea captains were drawn to Penn Cove and farmers to Ebey's Prairie. Time has touched only lightly upon Central Whidbey. Still, the landscape of the Reserve continues to grow and change, shaped as always by the community of people who live and work here. Farms are still farmed, forests are logged and historic buildings are still actively used today as homes or places of business.

The Reserve has been described as a
"blend of people and place, a cultural landscape, a cross-section of community that lays bare the legacy of a way of life for those who wish to see and, those who will, to understand. It is, in fact, the first example of a new approach to the problem of preservation and protection, for it preserves and protects the essence, rather than the substance, of those ingredients which go to make a nation."

Don Woodcock, local author

Verdant Whidbey Island lies at the extreme north end of Washington's island-strewn Puget Sound, forming the eastern boundary of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. To the east rise the glacier-clad peaks of the North Cascades, to the north and south stretch miles of deep water, islands, and coves. Silhouetted against the southwestern sky, the Olympic Mountains form a dramatic backdrop for the island's rural setting. In the central portion of Whidbey Island is Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve. Its boundaries encompass broad fertile prairies, high seaside bluffs, rolling woodlands, shallow brackish lakes, and a deep protected cove.

clip art of rhododendron
The Land | The People | The Place | The Vision

http://www.nps.gov/ebla/home.htm
Last Updated: 12-May-2001


Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve is a new kind of national park. It was created by Congress in 1978 "to preserve and protect a rural community which provides an unbroken historic record from...19th century exploration and settlement in Puget Sound to the present time." The people of Central Whidbey Island urged its creation, realizing that the area's unspoiled natural beauty and many historic sites portray the dramatic story of Pacific Northwest exploration and westward migration, an important chapter in our nation's history. Enduring patterns of community life in such a setting have created a unique cultural landscape. The vistas, woodlands, and fertile prairies of the Reserve are much the same today as they were 100 years ago when New England sea captains were drawn to Penn Cove and farmers to Ebey's Prairie. Time has touched only lightly upon Central Whidbey. Still, the landscape of the Reserve continues to grow and change, shaped as always by the community of people who live and work here. Farms are still farmed, forests are logged and historic buildings are still actively used today as homes or places of business.		The Reserve has been described as a "blend of people and place, a cultural landscape, a cross-section of community that lays bare the legacy of a way of life for those who wish to see and, those who will, to understand. It is, in fact, the first example of a new approach to the problem of preservation and protection, for it preserves and protects the essence, rather than the substance, of those ingredients which go to make a nation." Don Woodcock, local author Verdant Whidbey Island lies at the extreme north end of Washington's island-strewn Puget Sound, forming the eastern boundary of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. To the east rise the glacier-clad peaks of the North Cascades, to the north and south stretch miles of deep water, islands, and coves. Silhouetted against the southwestern sky, the Olympic Mountains form a dramatic backdrop for the island's rural setting. In the central portion of Whidbey Island is Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve. Its boundaries encompass broad fertile prairies, high seaside bluffs, rolling woodlands, shallow brackish lakes, and a deep protected cove.
The Land \| The People \| The Place \| The Vision
http://www.nps.gov/ebla/home.htm Last Updated: 12-May-2001