Coupeville is a town on

Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, Island County, Washington (state), Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington stat ...

, in Island County, Washington, United States. It is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Island County. The population was 1,942 at the 2020 census.

History

Prior to European settlement, Coupeville and the bay in which it is located, Penn Cove, was inhabited by the

Lower Skagit The Lower Skagit (sometimes called Whidbey Island Skagits) are a tribe of the Lushootseed Native American people living in the U.S. state of Washington. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized tribe, the Swinomish Indians of the S ...

, a

Lushootseed Lushootseed ( ), historically known as Puget Salish, Puget Sound Salish, or Skagit-Nisqually, is a Central Coast Salish language of the Salishan language family. Lushootseed is the general name for the dialect continuum composed of two main di ...

-speaking Coast Salish people. There were three villages around the bay, with the largest being at , meaning "snake place", the site of present day Coupeville. There was an abundance of salmon, clams, and other resources, as well as offering easy access to the water, making it an excellent village site. When Europeans arrived to explore the Puget Sound, it was

Joseph Whidbey Joseph Whidbey Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (1757 – 9 October 1833) was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–95, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first Eu ...

who first visited the bay, naming it Penn Cove in honor of his good friend. Captain George Vancouver later wrote after meeting the Skagit at the village that their population had quickly fallen due to disease. Coupeville was laid out in the 1850s by Captain

Thomas Coupe Captain Thomas Coupe (c. 1818 – December 27, 1875) was a ship's captain and early settler of Whidbey Island. Thomas Coupe was born in New Brunswick, New Brunswick, Canada and began going to sea at the age of 12. Coupe sailed the North American ...

, and named for him. Coupeville was officially incorporated on April 20, 1910. Coupeville is a historic district within the federal Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve. The reserve was established by Congress in 1978 as the first and only National Historical Reserve in the nation. Its also encompass farmlands,

Fort Ebey State Park Fort Ebey State Park is a public recreation area occupying the site of former Fort Ebey on the west side of Whidbey Island, west of Coupeville, Washington, Coupeville in Island County, Washington, Island County, Washington (state), Washington, ...

, Fort Casey State Park, shorelines and beaches, parks, trails, and 91 buildings and structures on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Coupeville was a film location for the 1998 movie ''

Practical Magic ''Practical Magic'' is a 1998 American romantic fantasy film based on the 1995 novel '' Practical Magic'' by Alice Hoffman. The film was directed by Griffin Dunne and stars Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest, Stockard Channing, ...

''.

Geography

Coupeville is located near the center of

, which lies in

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

between the mainland and the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large peninsula in Western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the ...

. On the north side of downtown is

Penn Cove Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington state. Whidbey is about north of Seattle, and lie ...

, an inlet of the

Saratoga Passage Saratoga Passage lies in Puget Sound between Whidbey Island and Camano Island. Saratoga Passage extends about 18 miles in a northwesterly direction from its entrance between Sandy Point on the Whidbey Island side and Camano Head on the othe ...

. The city is part of the Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, which also includes

to the west. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , all of it land.

Climate

Coupeville experiences significantly lower rainfall than much of western Washington, due to its location within the rain shadow of the

Olympic Mountains The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus (Washington), Mount Olympus is the high ...

. Due to the significant drying trend in summer, Coupeville's climate is classified as warm-summer

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 1,831 people, 806 households, and 428 families living in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 933 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 87.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.6%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.6% Native American, 1.9% Asian, 0.3%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 4.2% from other races, and 4.3% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 9.0% of the population. There were 806 households, of which 21.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 46.9% were non-families. 40.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.77. The median age in the town was 51.1 years. 17.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 19.1% were from 25 to 44; 29.9% were from 45 to 64; and 27.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 44.3% male and 55.7% female.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 1,723 people, 737 households, and 426 families living in the town. The population density was 1,346.7 people per square mile (519.7/km²). There were 814 housing units at an average density of 636.2 per square mile (245.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 89.8% White, 1.6% African American, 0.5% Native American, 2.2% Asian, 2.8% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or [Latino of any race were 5.3% of the population. There were 737 households, out of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.0% were

living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.1% were non-families. 36.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.81. In the town, the population was spread out, with 21.1% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 25.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $33,938, and the median income for a family was $47,721. Males had a median income of $33,235 versus $27,100 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,720. About 8.9% of families and 11.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The town is served by the Coupeville School District.

Notable people

* Guy Bond, psychologist. *

Adrienne Lyle individual rank 20 in the 2024 Paris equestrian games Adrienne Lyle (born January 2, 1985 in Coupeville, Washington) is an American Olympic dressage rider. Representing the United States, she competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London where ...

, Olympic

dressage Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...

rider.

References

External links

History of Coupeville
at

HistoryLink HistoryLink is an online encyclopedia of Washington (state), Washington state history. The site has more than 8,100 entries and attracts 23,000 weekly visitors. It has 500 biographies and more than 14,000 images. The non-profit historical organi ...

Coupeville & Central Whidbey Island Chamber of Commerce

Coupeville Visitors' Information

Island County Historical Museum

Sunnyside Cemetery - Coupeville's historic pioneer cemetery

* ttps://www.nps.gov/ebla/learn/historyculture/index.htm NPS: History and culture of Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve and Central Whidbey Island
Historic Admiralty Head Lighthouse

Coupeville Arts & Crafts Festival

The Whidbey Examiner newspaper, based in Coupeville

Oliver S. Van Olinda Photography Collection
- Former editor of the Island County Times a Coupeville newspaper; University of Washington Library {{Authority control Towns in Island County, Washington County seats in Washington (state) Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Populated places established in 1852 1852 establishments in Oregon Territory Towns in Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Island County, Washington