- Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (Whidbey Island) (historylink.org)
Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve is unique – the first, and as of 2023 only, national historical reserve in the United States. Established in 1978 by the National Parks and Recreation Act (NPRA), the Reserve’s mission is to preserve, protect, manage, and interpret much of Central Whidbey Island, from the historic town of Coupeville in the east to pioneers Isaac and Rebecca Ebey’s 1850 donation claim to the west. The Reserve initially encompassed only the 8,000-acre Central Whidbey Historical District, which had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NHRP) in December 1973. The historical district and the Reserve were later enlarged to 17,572 acres – 13,617 acres of land and 3,955 surface acres of the waters of Penn Cove. The Reserve includes woodlands, open prairies, wetlands, shorelines, sloping uplands, dozens of historic structures, and the entire town of Coupeville. It is administered by a Trust Board of nine individuals – three representing the town of Coupeville, four representing Island County, and one each from the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and the National Park Service (NPS). Eighty-five percent of the land within the Reserve is privately owned, and a process of consultation, cooperation, and compromise to harmonize often-competing interests has been key to its success.