FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Langley Register of Historic Places Nomination Form Received Type all entries 1. Name of Property Historic: Jacob Anthes Bunkhouse/Cookhouse And/or common: South Whidbey Historical Society Museum 2. Location Street and number: 312 Second Street City: Langley State: WA Zip: 98260 3. Classification Category Ownership Status Present Use District Public X Occupied Agriculture X Museum X Building(s) X Private Unoccupied Commercial Park Structure Both Work in progress Educational Residential Site Public Acquisition Accessible Entertainment Religious Object In process X Yes: restricted Government Scientific Being considered Yes: unrestricted Industrial Transportation Not Applicable No Military Other 4. Owner of Property (Use continuation page if more than one owner) Name: South Whidbey Historical Society Street and number: 312 Second Street City: Langley State: WA Zip: 98260 Telephone: 360-221-2101 E-mail: 5. Physical Description Condition Check one Check one Excellent Deteriorated Unaltered X Original site X Good Ruins X Altered Moved Date Fair Unexposed Narrative description: (Use one or more continuation sheets for a description of the present and original physical appearance of the property) 1
6. Significance Year built: 1902 Builder/Architect: Narrative description: (Use one or more continuation pages for a description of the history and significance of the property to Langley s heritage). 7. Major Bibliographical References Place bibliography on one or more continuation sheets. 8. Additional Documentation Place maps and photographs on one or more continuation pages. 9. Geographical Data Verbal Boundary Description: A 23 feet wide lot bounded by McLeod Alley (North), Melson Alley (West), and Second Street (South). Legal Description: West 23 feet of lots, 9,10, 11 and 12; Block 7; City of Langley. Tax Parcel Number: S7345-00-07010-0 Plat Name: Langley Block: 7 Lot(s): 9, 10. 11 and 12 10. Form Prepared By: Name/Title: Robert Waterman/Board President Organization: South Whidbey Historical Society Date: 10/10/08 Street and number: 88 Saratoga Creek Lane Telephone: 360-221-8644 City or town: Langley State: WA Zip: 98260 E-mail: bobanne@whidbey.com 11. Signature of Property Owner(s): 2
CONTINUATION PAGES City Hall Nomination 5. Narrative Description of the Property Jacob Anthes, the founder of Langley, WA, constructed the building on its current site in 1890, 1895 or 1902 as a bunkhouse for his brush cutter employees. Early Whidbey brush cutters harvested shrubs and scrap timber for landfill in Seattle s developing waterfront. They also cut cordwood used to power the emerging Mosquito steamship fleet that serviced Puget Sound. Roderick McLeod and his family subsequently occupied the building while they built their hotel on First Street in Langley. In 1908 Anton Myer ( Blackie ) Anderson, the town blacksmith, purchased it and lived there with his wife Josephine and their children, Otto and Alma. Anton retired from blacksmithing in 1925 and died in 1933. Members of the Anderson family continued living in or renting the building until Alma willed it to the South Whidbey Historical Society in 1989. The Society refurbished and opened the bunkhouse as a museum in 1992. In 1997-98, extensive renovations took place. Office/storage space was added at the north end, and some original features were restored to the front porch and the 2 nd Street entrance. Wheelchair access was also completed. The museum reopened in 1999 and continues to operate today. 6. Narrative Description of Significance Three of Langley s pioneer founding families, the Anthes, McLeods and Andersons are intimately associated with this building, which remains on its original site and looks much as it did when it was first constructed. Its original function as a brush cutter s bunkhouse reflects Langley s early steamship transport and logging economies. The structure retains its rustic, homemade character. Its wood plant floors creak as museum visitors move from room to room. Its boxcar layout recalls the close quarters of an early bunkhouse. Both the McLeod and Anderson families have descendants in the Langley area today. In fact, the daughter of Langley s first blacksmith, Alma Anderson Grist, left the building she had grown up in to the South Whidbey Historical Society as a vehicle for preserving Langley s early pioneer history. 7. Major Bibliographical References 1. Cherry, Lorna. South Whidbey and its People, Vol. III. Langley, the Village by the Sea. South Whidbey Historical Society. Langley, Washington. 1986. 2. City Records. Langley City Hall, Langley, Washington. 3
8. Additional Information 2008 Photographs South side. Main entrance. S.E. corner and east side. S.W. corner and west side. West side. N.W. corner. New office addition. North side. 4
N.E. corner. Plaque near front entrance to museum. Maps and Drawings 2004 Langley Plat map Langley Plat map. Google maps. 5
1989 Deed of Alma Anderson Grist Estate to South Whidbey Historical Society 6
Historic Photographs 1911 photo by Ferdinand Brady. Anthes bunkhouse (arrow). Before 1992. West side. 7
Before 1992. Southwest corner. During 1992 remodel. North side. After 1992 remodel. Southwest corner. 8
Floor plan. Proposed 1997 remodel. Michael Boyd, Architect. 9