908 NW Alexander ST, PO Box 305
COUPEVILLE, WA 98239
360-678-3310
www.islandhistory.org
120,000 YEARS OF LOCAL HISTORY
The Island County Historical Society (ICHS) Museum is a 501 c 3 non-profit that is the repository for Island County history on Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve. Engage your whole family with a visit. Admission to the museum and to all of our talks and events is always free. Enjoy the Museum Bingo Scavenger Hunt for all ages, try one of our interactives, and use our tour app to enjoy songs, videos, animal sounds, and more as you learn about the history of this unique place.
With 2 floors of exhibits, there’s something for everyone. ICHS’s permanent exhibits include Native People – Native Places celebrating the history of the local Coast Salish indigenous peoples spanning some 12,000 years and featuring a 28-foot Nootka style cedar dugout canoe. Learn about Lushootseed—the language of the Coast Salish Peoples— and listen to it too. There are also natural history exhibits, including 10,000-12,000-year-old Columbian Mammoth remains and an Ice Age fir tree, flattened by the immense Vashon Glacier, 120,000 years ago. The Native Species exhibit showcases the ecosystems of Island County, and the plants and animals that the Lower Skagit and Snohomish peoples relied on for food, clothing, and shelter.
Come for our twice a year Kids’ Day in July and December for a fun family time of treats, historic games and crafts, and a historic dress-up box for selfies.
Join us each month all year long for our Special Speakers series, covering local history, national history, and even the story of how Santa Claus came to America!
In the summer, visit us on Wednesday afternoons at 2 PM on the museum porch for Porch Stories: one-hour presentations with storytelling and history.
ICHS has the How the Sea Shaped Island County Maritime exhibit that is a fun and interactive way to learn about the lives of Sea Captains and sailors on board the ships that came here to explore, trade, and bring provisions. Our Pioneers exhibit shows the tough journeys by sail or the Oregon Trail that brought people from the East, and the lives of pioneers once they arrived. You can also see the first car on Whidbey Island (a 1902 Holsman Autobuggy), racing canoes, and so much more. Special seasonal exhibits make sure that there is always something new each time you come, wrapping up each year with a holiday-themed exhibit.
The museum is accessible for all, with wheelchair and walker access, an elevator, and a tour app that allows you to learn by listening.
There’s something for the whole family to enjoy all year round at the museum!
We serve all of Island County and host visitors from around the country and around the world
In 1949, Island County Government was about to demolish the historically significant 1890 Island County Courthouse. A group of twenty-two Whidbey Islanders met on November 22, 1949, in the "Old Court House" building to lobby to save the building and subsequently formed the Island County Historical Society. Dr. W. P. Race acted as chairman and many prominent families were in attendance to help establish a plan and purpose for the group. Families included Heap, Coupe, Sill, Darst, Engle, O'Leary, Pratt, Hastie, and Calhoun.
Unfortunately, the Island County Courthouse was demolished, but ICHS vowed to preserve the unique history of Island County.
Dr. Race put forth their vision as a place to "enhance the interest...in this County" through "fine historical exhibits." Their goal was to "depict visually what the background of the County was in the past and what it has to offer at present and in the future." They wanted to focus on the natural beauty and resources of the area to promote tourism and attract any potential "home-seeker" to settle on "our Isle of Paradise.""
ICHS explored the possibility of a museum in the abandoned Admiralty Head Lighthouse. At the time, the building was in great need of repair. Fortunately, the State took over its repair and restored and preserved this historic building. It now houses a museum of its own.
ICHS opened its first museum in a small building donated by the General Telephone Company at corner of Coveland and Main Street in Coupeville. It was run and maintained by volunteers at this location for five years before moving to a larger facility.
The "Old Firehouse" served as the museum for five years. A "Bow to Plow" exhibit was installed at the new location and celebrated with champagne and cider. The exhibit featured a re-creation of an authentic blacksmith shop as well as an homage to farm life with "Grandma's backyard" being re-created complete with clothesline and chickens beside the porch.
The museum outgrew it's cramped quarters, and as part of our State's Centennial, a capital campaign was launched to construct our current building.
"The new ICHS building was built across from the Firehouse on the site of the former 1868 Blockhouse Inn, adjacent to the historic Alexander Blockhouse, and a long shed housing several Native canoes. The museum reflects the size and basic feel of the old Inn that tragically burnt in 1968, and now serves as a focal point and landmark on the waterfront of historic downtown Coupeville. A traditional wrap-around porch and native plants garden provide opportunities for unique outdoor programming.
ICHS expanded its mission from collection and preservation of Island County history to prioritize the interpretation of local history.
Exhibits now tell the stories the Indigenous People of the area as well as pioneers, early Chinese immigrants, and native plants and animals. The facility also houses a vast archival collection of original photos, deeds, and other documents that tell the history of Island County.
The Society celebrated its 50th Anniversary with an exhibit called "Waterways to Highways" that explored the history of Fort Casey, the development of transportation on the Island, and featured what is still a focal point in the museum--the first car on Whidbey Island.
It celebrated it's 75th anniversary in 2024 with an exhibit on museum history and a community Gala.
908 NW Alexander ST, PO Box 305
COUPEVILLE, WA 98239
360-678-3310
www.islandhistory.org
