Langley log cabin

Status: Most Endangered Places

Year Listed: 2024

Location: Langley, Island County

This historic log cabin was recently discovered near Langley on Whidbey Island. Property owner Marian Myszkowski began demolition of a condemned building on her land near Langley. But when the outer shell of the building was torn down, inside she found a hidden log cabin dating from decades earlier. While little is known about the log cabin’s provenance or original function, it is estimated to date from somewhere between the 1850s and the 1880s, from the earliest years of Whidbey Island’s white settler history. Fortunately, Marian did not proceed with the demolition and instead contacted the South Whidbey Historical Society. One of the society’s volunteers, retired historian and cultural resource specialist (and Washington Trust board member) Kyle Walker, has taken on the project of investigating the cabin’s origins. In the meantime, the log cabin has been named to the Washington Trust’s Most Endangered Places list in order to raise public awareness and funding.

Coupeville Wharf

Status: Most Endangered Places

Year Listed: 2024

Location: Coupeville, Island County

Built in 1905 for passenger travel and importing/exporting products between Whidbey Island and the mainland, over the decades the wharf became Coupeville’s most iconic building. It is currently owned by the Port of Coupeville and part of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, and its biggest threat today is climate change. As a 120-year-old wooden structure situated directly over the water, the wharf is affected by rising sea levels and increasingly frequent king tides. According to local government projections, the wharf will be flooded by the year 2050. The Port of Coupeville hopes to save the structure by raising it—a project that will cost $5 million. The Washington Trust has named the Coupeville Wharf to the list of Most Endangered Places to support the Port of Coupeville in finding funding and to draw attention to the perils to our state’s historic resources posed by climate change.