“The Creation of the Port of South Whidbey”
The Port of South Whidbey posted this to its Facebook page on 2026-02-03 13:14:37.
“The Creation of the Port of South Whidbey”
On August 29, 1961, voters on Whidbey Island approve the formation of the Langley Port District to develop an all-season boat marina in the town of Langley. This original port district, which consists of the town and portions of the rural precincts of Sandy Point, Saratoga, and Useless Bay, has an insufficient tax base to finance the marina, and in November 1968 another public vote greatly enlarges the district’s boundaries to include most of the southern one-third of Whidbey Island. But even the expanded district proves unable to afford the planned 400-slip marina, and in 1979 the Port, the City of Langley, and the state join forces to build a much smaller facility, which the City will operate for the next 20 years. The Port, meanwhile, will go on to develop other public facilities within its district. In January 2009, Langley will transfer ownership of the marina to the port district.
A Very Big Island
At approximately 230 square miles, Whidbey Island is the one of the largest islands in the contiguous United States. It is named after Joseph Whidbey (1757-1833), master of H. M. S. Discovery, one of the ships under the overall command of the British explorer, Captain George Vancouver (1758-1798). Whidbey circumnavigated the island in 1792, sailing through Deception Pass and establishing that the long and narrow land mass was in fact an island, and not part of the mainland as early Spanish maps had claimed. Occupied for centuries by coastal divisions of the Salishan linguistic group of Indians, sometimes called the “Whidbey Island Skagits,” the island didn’t see its first permanent non-Native presence until 1850, when Captain Isaac Ebey (1818-1857) claimed land on the western side of the island not far from present-day Coupeville.
Whidbey Island is naturally divided into three roughly equal sections by two long inlets, Penn Cove and Holmes Harbor, and the area known as South Whidbey lies primarily south and east of the latter. The Port of South Whidbey is coextensive with South Whidbey School District No. 206, encompasses 41,182 acres (64.35 square miles), and is divided into three commissioner districts, known as Freeland, Langley, and Clinton, after three island communities. Of the three, only Langley is incorporated as a city under state law.
Langley, which hugs the water along Saratoga Passage and calls itself “The Village by the Sea,” was incorporated in 1913, although its roots go back to as early as 1890, when settler Jacob Anthes (1865?-1939) bought the tract of land that would later become the town. Anthes quickly convinced a group of businessmen to form the Langley Land and Improvement Company, named after one of its members, Judge J. W. Langley of Seattle. The company recorded the initial Langley plat in 1891, then built the town’s first dock, which attracted steamers plying the waters of Puget Sound. Langley was an active, working port, handling mostly agricultural products and lumber and serving as a ferry landing for passenger traffic to and from the mainland.
The financial Panic of 1893 slowed the region’s economy, and a storm in 1894 destroyed Langley’s dock. In 1902, the Langley Land and Improvement Company deeded all the property back to Jacob Anthes in return for $3,000, and he built a new dock, once again drawing freight and passenger traffic to the small town. Finally, in 1912, a group of local citizens banded together and filed to incorporate Langley, a status that was granted the following year.
The Port of Langley
The Port of South Whidbey Island had its beginnings as the Port of Langley, a municipal corporation approved by the voters in 1961. That first district was composed of the town of Langley itself and portions of the rural precincts of Sandy Point, Saratoga, and Useless Bay. The coming of regular vehicle-carrying ferries and the rise of the trucking industry had long before robbed Langley of its value as a working port, and it was hoped that the new port district could develop a 400-slip marina on the Langley waterfront that would serve all of South Whidbey Island.
Beginning in 1965, the Port began preparations for a 6.8 acre marina and harbor facility at the base of Anthes Street in Langley. Conceptual plans were drawn, and the Port secured a tentative commitment from the Army Corps of Engineers for dredging and breakwater work. But financial realities intervened before the idea could be taken much further. The ability to redeem bonds that were to be sold to help finance the project would require 80-percent occupancy at the completed marina, which the Port could not guarantee. That, in combination with a population that was too small to provide a broad tax base from which significant funding could be drawn, led to a decision to put the plan aside, at least for the time being.
The Port of Langley then decided to focus on increasing its size, which would increase its ability to fund projects through property-tax levies. This took time, and it was not until November 5, 1968, that the voters of South Whidbey approved the Port’s expansion to its present boundaries by a narrow margin of 787 to 702. Although it now covered a much greater areas, the port retained the “Langley” name for over 10 years, officially becoming the “Port of South Whidbey Island” only in 1979.
