Arnold Farm, Barn, 1948 Arnold Road, Coupeville, Island County, WA

Significance: With the passing of the Donation Land Claim Act in 1850, Congress agreed to grant land in the Oregon Territory to American settlers willing to farm it. It was during this time when settlement of Central Whidbey Island accelerated, and when Major Daniel Show staked his claim on 320 acres in the San de Fuca Uplands. Not much is known about this land in the fifty years following Show's claim; but in 1907 the land was purchased by another early settler to the region, Alanson W. Arnold. The Arnold family has now continually owned this land for 100 years. As farming science and technology advanced, so did the landscape of the Arnold farm. What started as a diversified farm raising grain, potatoes, pigs, chickens, and cows primarily to fit the needs of the family, transitioned into sheep herds raised for meat and wool, and later into hogs and cattle reared for slaughter. The fields, first cultivated by horse and man, later saw the development of threshing machines, combines, and tractors. All the buildings remaining on the site today were built during the twentieth century, including the barn, which was constructed in 1918. This barn illustrates a key transitional period for construction techniques in the area. It combines the heavy-timber construction of the late nineteenth century with the light plank frame construction seen in the area after World War I. Also, this farm complex as a whole illustrates the cluster plan layout indicative of farms throughout Central Whidbey Island.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1155
Survey number: HABS WA-244-A