The History of the Ebey's Landing Ferry House

The Ferry House at Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve

Historic American Landscapes Survey, “Ferry House,” HALS No. WA-9, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2025

About the Ferry House

Built ca. 1859, the Ferry House is among the oldest surviving buildings in Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve. Its prominent location above the coastal strip that connected Whidbey Island to the mainland, along the pathway to Penn Cove and Coupeville, and surrounded by fertile Ebey’s Prairie, lent the building various uses over the years—tavern, inn, boarding house, warehouse, farmhouse, and postal station. Though occupied and leased by many, the house was owned by only two families and has undergone minimal alterations. Acquired in 2002 from the Nature Conservancy, the National Park Service currently manages the Ferry House and surrounding lands. The landscape immediately surrounding the buildings—with two outbuildings, ornamental trees, ravine, fruit trees, and cultivated fields—has likewise experienced only modest change. The site’s association with the earliest period of European-American settlement on Whidbey Island makes it an essential element of the island’s cultural history and the Reserve’s long term interpretive mission.

A 3D model of the Ferry House

HALS/HDP/NPS

This story map was produced as part of a broader project that documented the Ferry House for inclusion in the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS). To create the documentation, staff from the National Park Service Heritage Documentation Programs surveyed the property using terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) laser scanners to create an accurate 3-dimensional digital model of the site.

Ebey's Prairie

The Ferry House is located on a relatively open stretch of land known as Ebey’s Prairie. The area is framed by Penn Cove and Coupeville to the north, the East Woodlands and Crocket Prairie to the east, the Fort Casey Uplands to the south, and the Coastal Strip and West Woodlands to the west and northwest. It slopes westward to bluffs that front the shoreline along Admiralty Inlet. In clear weather, views to the west encompass the Olympic Peninsula, the North Cascades to the east, and Mount Rainier to the south. The prairie contains fields, fences, hedgerows, patches of woodland, and historic farm clusters.

Burnt Camas Bulb found near the Ebey's Landing Ferry House

Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve

Ebey’s Prairie sits within a former lakebed created by retreating ice age glaciers. The prairie’s mild climate and nutrient-rich soil provided ideal agricultural conditions for ancestral native communities that lived and stewarded the lands for thousands of generations. They managed the landscape through controlled burnings, hunted, and harvested plants like camas, chocolate lily, and nettle. In 2001, archeologists found evidence near the Ferry House of cooked camas bulbs, wild onion, berries, and other edible bulbs that were over 2,000 years old.

Ebey's Prairie c. 1909

"Historic photograph of Ebey's Prairie," Island County Historical Society (Object ID 1967.ATA.425)

Beginning in 1850, Anglo-American settlers were similarly drawn to this abundant site. They cultivated grains, potatoes, and onions, planted fruit trees, and raised sheep, pigs, and other livestock. Local historian George Kellogg said that “this prairie was to prove one of the most productive areas in the United States.” By 1858 approximately 180 settlers lived on Whidbey Island, many establishing farms on the prairie land around Penn Cove. They were attracted to the area’s fertile soil and its proximity to a water-based transportation network that connected farms to distant markets.

Portrait of Isaac N. Ebey

"Historic undated negative of Isaac Neff Ebey," Island County Historical Society (Object ID 2013.193.017a).

The Ebey Family

In October 1850, Isaac Neff Ebey arrived on Whidbey Island to occupy and farm his Donation Land Claim. Ebey was born in 1818 in Franklin County, Ohio. In 1848 he left for Oregon and then the California gold mines, before settling on Whidbey Island. His wife, Rebecca, and children, Eason and Ellison, joined him in 1851. By the late fall of 1852, they had built new log buildings collectively referred to as “the Cabins,” across the ravine from the current Ferry House location. Isaac became involved in politics and played a prominent role in securing establishment of the Washington Territory in 1853.

In 1857, Ebey was killed in what has historically been described as a retaliatory raid by indigenous people from the north. Isaac’s brother, Winfield Scott Ebey, served as caretaker of the estate on behalf of the Isaac’s surviving children. Recognizing the advantageous location, bisected by a primary pathway between the landing and the growing settlements around Penn Cove, Winfield Scott Ebey and his cousin George Beam constructed the wood dwelling that came to be called the Ferry House. It was to be a tavern and inn for ferry travelers that would generate income for the Ebey children.

A ravine to the Ferry House from the beach

“Photograph of the Ferry House, c. 1953 or 1961,” Island County Historical Society (Object ID 2024.RSC.550).

Following Isaac Ebey’s death in 1857, the Ferry House was constructed for his sons where a ravine cut through the coastal bluff providing a convenient, gentle-sloped pathway for travelers and laden wagons. A historic wagon road trace survives along the ravine marking the pathway travelers, farmers, merchants, and sailors took between the landing and the Ferry House.

The Beach at Ebey's Landing

Historic Ebey property lines from 1863

NPS / CRGIS/ E.L. Cahoon (2026)

The Ferry House is located at the edge of Ebey’s prairie, where the prairie meets the bluffs and coastal strip along Admiralty Inlet. The location, now called Ebey’s Landing, provided access to the Whidbey Island interior for the indigenous Lower Skagit, other descendent Coast Salish peoples that maintain historical and traditional connections, and later for white settlers. The site was a logical point of arrival and departure between the island and other locales such as Port Townsend.

Construction of the Ferry House

The Ferry House was built in three phases, beginning around 1859. A one and a half story clapboard dwelling with Greek Revival elements, the house features both plank construction in its original portions, and stick framing in parts of its addition, thus providing a physical example of evolving light wood construction techniques in the nineteenth century.

Ferry House Elevation Drawings

HDP/NPS

The original 20' x 28' portion of the house was built of plank construction with 1" thick load bearing vertical boards set on hewn log sills over wood block or stone footings. It was a lighter form of construction, requiring fewer resources and skills, than traditional timber framing. Though variations of plank construction were age old, the version found in the Ferry House was made possible by the availability of cheap nails, milled lumber, and builder’s guide books instructing farmers and tradespeople on affordable construction techniques.

Hallway of the Ferry House

HDP/HALS/NPS

Within the next few years, the house was substantially altered when a one and a half story plank addition extended the original building about 14' to the north. The extension’s construction was nearly identical to the original section, including an internal fireplace and chimney on the north end. Other changes included construction of the current main entrance door and the cross gable above the main entrance. At the same time, horizontal wood clapboard was installed on the entire building exterior secured to the planks below with vertical furring strips. A few years later, the house was expanded again, with construction of perpendicular “ell” addition projecting 30' from the center of the east façade. Increasing ferry traffic between Port Townsend and Ebey’s Landing may have spurred the expansion—it contained a large dining room and kitchen on the first floor and six sleeping rooms above. A final period of alterations likely included construction of a bay window on the rear south façade and the front porch. On the second floor, the porch was originally accessed via a door immediately below the gable that was later replaced with windows.

Early Ocupancy and Use

During its early years the Ferry House served a variety of functions as a site of burgeoning settlement, trade, and transportation. Travelers to Whidbey Island arriving at Ebey’s Landing would ascend the bluff via the ravine to find food, drink, and lodging there. Those departing might rest and dine before walking down the bluff to waiting boats. The first floor housed public areas of the building such as the parlor and dining room.

Between March and August 1861, the building served as a postal station with Robert C. Hill as the postmaster. That same year, F.G. Wentworth secured an Island County liquor license (the second issued by the county), for the sale of spirits at the Ferry House. James Clark took over the license in 1862. An island resident recalled that in 1863, “At Ebey’s Landing there was a saloon which also carried a few items of merchandise and groceries.” Records note that Clark was purchasing hay, barley, and potatoes for the inn and tavern operation.

The Ebey Inn

In 1867, Isaac’s sons, Eason and Jacob Ellison Ebey, informally divided their father’s land into two separate parcels; the portion with the Ferry House went to Ellison. In 1877 he and his wife, Mary, took over management of the building, operating it as “The Ebey Inn.” By the 1880s regular ferry service was in place, with the steamer Enterprise departing Ebey’s Landing daily at 1 p.m. It may have been during this period that the house received the bay window and fireplace in the dining room and other refinements.

Enjoying the view on a Summers Day

"Enjoying the view on a Summers Day", Island County Historic Society

In addition to operating the inn, the Ebey family and their tenants farmed the property throughout the period. While potatoes and grains remained staples, the variety of crops, livestock, and other goods like butter produced by the region expanded in the second half of the nineteenth century. Into the 1870s, Ellison Ebey preferred the planting of timothy (a grass used for animal feed) over wheat on the land surrounding the Ferry House. By the last quarter of the 1800s, however, competing agricultural regions served by new railroad networks began to undercut the prosperity of Whidbey Island’s farmers. The importance of Ebey’s Landing as a pathway for people and goods diminished until it was discontinued as a ferry destination at the turn of the twentieth century.

The Ferry House

NPS / HALS / Justin R. Scalera (2024)

The pastoral landscape of Ebey’s Prairie, however, held appeal for early twentieth century tourists and the Ferry House continued to serve its historic function as a place of lodging. Businesses and services appeared in Coupeville and other island communities to meet the needs of short-term visitors drawn from the growing urban areas around Puget Sound.

Guest and Bed Chambers of the Second Floor

The second floor of the Ferry House contains rooms that housed residents and guests. Spaces such as this chamber, constructed during an early expansion, display the plank construction system used in older portions of the house. The structural system used 1" thick vertical planks, butted along their edges, to form the wall structure. Ledgers at the second floor and the roof secure the planks in plane, while the first and second floors and the corners provided added rigidity. Historic wallpaper survives in some areas. Newspapers dating to August 1862 were pasted to some interior walls—a common, affordable means of insulating cracks and providing a screed, or leveling, layer between boards.

A Small Chamber in the Ferry House

Small Chamber in the Ferry House's Second Floor

NPS / HALS / Justin R. Scalera (2024)

In 1891, Atherton Herrett leased the Ferry House, barn, outbuildings, fifty-eight surrounding acres, and the house’s mail concession from Mary Ebey for $375 per year. Herrett supplemented his income from farming and mail service with summertime boarders. Between 1898 and 1915 Atherton Herrett’s brother, Gilbert, and Gilbert’s wife, Evaline, operated the site as a boarding house. Boarders would stay in rooms such as this.

Local histories indicate that during World War II, a detachment of soldiers also lived on site, possibly participating in island defenses that included an observation post and gun emplacement near the ravine.

Ferry House Outbuildings and Grounds

Two historic outbuildings, a shed and an outhouse, survive to the rear of the Ferry House. The plank framed shed, also known as a summer kitchen or storehouse, measures approximately 40' long and consists of three partitioned spaces and a covered open passage. The exterior is primarily board and batten with vertical board sections on the rear façade and the south gable end. Most of the shed exterior, the shingle roof, much of the flooring, selected rafters and sheathing, and the entire north stall are replacement material dating to the shed’s reconstruction by the National Park Service in 2019 and 2020.

The Gravenstein apple tree and historic well.

NPS / HALS / Justin R. Scalera (2024)

The outhouse is located immediately south of the shed. Inside, it features a boxed seat along the east wall with two carved holes and one wood lid, unfinished walls, and a wood floor. Replacement boards, diagonal bracing, and roof shingles are evidence of later rehabilitation work.

A disused well and cistern with a wood cover and a rectangular concrete watering trough are also located on the property. The trough is beneath the canopy of a historic Gravenstein apple tree that still bears fruit. Based on tree physiology and expertise, NPS specialists dated the Gravenstein apple tree to about 150 years in age making it one of the oldest in Washington state. Other notable vegetation on the site includes a cottonwood tree near the south corner of the front porch, a Douglas fir tree south of the outbuildings in the ravine, and a shrub rose at the northeast corner of the rear porch.

The Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve

Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the Ferry House continued to function as an inn and boarding house. In 1917, Harold Ebey sold the property including the Ferry House to Seattle attorney and Whidbey Island property owner, Frank J. Pratt, Jr., and his wife, Coupeville-native, Madelene (Lena) Kohne Pratt. Between their acquisition of the house and Frank Pratt’s death in 1939, the couple stopped offering boarding and began renting the entire house to a succession of tenants, some of whom farmed the surrounding land. In 1929 they placed property further northwest along the coast into a trust for their son, Robert Pratt. From 1956 to 2000, Earl (Bud) and Martha Morris served as caretakers. The couple and their two sons lived off island but regularly visited the house using it for weekend getaways and family events. They furnished, maintained, and made numerous repairs to its roof, doors, and windows during their four decades of stewardship.

Robert Pratt felt a reverence for the open space, natural life, and history of Ebey’s Landing and Ebey’s Prairie. In the 1970s, he became increasingly involved in efforts to protect the area from residential development. When Robert died in 1999, he donated the Ferry House, the Jacob and Sarah Ebey House, and 147 acres to the Nature Conservancy. Due to his efforts, and the contributions of many in the local community, this view from the second-floor balcony has changed very little since the Ferry House was initially constructed. In 2002 the National Park Service acquired the Ferry House property from the Nature Conservancy and continues to protect and conserve this important place for future generations.

Native Golden Paintbrush in the Ebey's Landing fields

The Nature Conservancy

Established by an act of Congress in 1978, Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve was the first historical reserve in the National Park system. Its mission was “to preserve and protect a rural community which provides an unbroken historical record from nineteenth century exploration and settlement of Puget Sound up to the present time…” It was an innovative administrative form intended to balance preservation of the island’s agricultural history with the local community’s natural development and economic vitality. The Reserve encompasses over 17,500 acres; approximately eighty-five percent of the land within the Reserve’s boundaries is privately owned. Approximately 2,023 acres are currently protected with NPS-held scenic easements, and 413 acres are owned in fee and managed by the National Park Service, including the parcel containing the Ferry House. Although considered a unit of the National Park Service, the Reserve is jointly managed by an administrative Trust Board that includes partners from the Town of Coupeville, Island County government, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, the Nature Conservancy, and the National Park Service.

A history of the Ferry House StoryMap Collection

NPS

Tags: ebey's landing national historical reserve, cultural resources, ebey's landing, heritage documentation programs, cultural resources gis facility, crgis, hdp, hals, historic american landscapes survey