Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve Reading the Cultural Landscape

PRESERVATION PRINCIPLES

Ebey's Prairie

Location and Access

Ebey's Prairie is located in the central portion of the reserve, surrounded by the Coastal Strip on the southwest, the West Woodlands, Coupeville and Highway 20 along the north, and the East Woodlands.

The large natural prairie is characterized by a gentle sweep of agricultural land and a patchwork of farms, fields, fences and hedgerows.

Primary access is along Highway 20, Ebey's Landing Road, Engle Road, and Hill Road.

Significance and Integrity

From the very earliest use by the Skagit Indians and subsequent settlement by white pioneers, the prairie land has been used for agriculture. Taking advantage of the open fields and fertile soils, early donation land claims by the Ebeys, Engles, Hills and others solidified settlement patterns on the prairie. Many of these claims remain remarkably intact today.

Early homes from this initial period of settlement are still standing in their original location (including the Jacob Ebey Saltbox, 1855), and are historically significant structures on the reserve. Other structures, including the cemetery, several barns and outbuildings, roads, and fencelines have remained the same for over a hundred years and reflect this same period of early settlement. Taken altogether, the stability and continuity of these broad patterns of settlement and land use, circulation, and structures, reflect a high degree of both natural landscape integrity and the history of a still-vital community.

The sheep barn on the bluff overlooking the prairie was probably part of Jacob Ebey's homestead (top, right).
The Gould house built in 1896 (bottom, right).

Preservation Principles

Preservation principles for Ebey's Prairie focus on protection of significant historic landscape patterns and features.

1. Protect both natural soils, historic landscape patterns and structures by maintaining an exclusive agricultural land use designation for the entire prairie.

2. New development or structures not associated with existing complexes should be carefully sited along the edges of the prairie (see #3 below).

3. In order to preserve the high degree of visual quality on the prairie, no structures, other than interpretive devices of small-scale, should be allowed on the bottom lands. Structures on the slopes should not intrude into the prairie or into the skyline when seen from local roads or viewpoints.

4. Maintenance and incorporation of existing fence lines and hedgerows into current land practices is strongly encouraged.