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GREENBANK, WASHINGTON

According to local historians, the Skagit Indians were the first tribe to inhabit the island. They settled around the north end of the island, along with the neighboring Swinomish tribe. The Suquamish and Snohomish tribes dwelt on South Whidbey. Each of these tribes was dependent upon canoes for transportation and for the gathering of fish.

On June 2, 1792, Captain George Vancouver landed at Penn Cove aboard the vessel Discovery. On a navigational mission four days later, First Mate Joseph Whidbey discovered the turbulent and narrow passage separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island. Because of the churning waters and torrential currents, this passage appeared to be a river's inlet. Note of this discovery was brought back to Captain Vancouver who named this small passage between the two islands "Deception Pass." Captain Vancouver also named the island to the south "Whidbey's Island," after her discoverer, Joseph Whidbey.

Few U. S. citizens other than traders and trappers lived in the Northwest before the 1830s, but such men were the vanguard for a American empire in this territory. Enough New England merchants competed for maritime trade, however, that Indians reportedly took to calling the sea traders "Bostons." Nevertheless, the Hudson's Bay Company, granted a monopoly of "soft gold" by the crown, entered the Northwestern fur trade in 1821, and it would dominate Oregon country politically and economically for a quarter of a century. The Hudson's Bay Company established Fort Nisqually in the southern Puget Sound and began trade with Whidbey Island Indians, among others, in the early 1830s. The company brought new technologies to Whidbey Island, such as cooking pots, guns, and machined textiles, and it helped introduce the potatoes that the Clallams began planting on Ebey's Prairie in the 1840s. The Clallams even started a small trade in potatoes with the British, until Euro-American settlers claimed the prairie for themselves.

In 1841 the United States Exploring Expedition (commonly called the Wilkes Expedition) reported to Congress on the suitability of the Puget Sound as a harbor.

Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, U.S.N, charted the first maps and related nautical charts of the south part of Whidbey Island in 1841 as Whidby's Island. Before this date the southern half of the island was generally considered untamed Indian country with an abundance of swamps, brambles and impassable undergrowth. Lt. Wilkes named a long well sheltered inlet on the east side of the island after one of his crewmembers, Doctor Silas Holmes. After sounding and charting Holmes Harbor, they proceeded around the island continuing their explorations.

Wilkes’ report provided the American leadership with a reason to insist on the 49th Parallel as the international boundary. Yet, despite national pride and the huge wave of migration along the Oregon Trail in the 1840s, relatively few headed north into the Puget Sound area. On Whidbey Island, the Wilkes party noted the presence of a mission on the west shore in 1840, operated with considerable success (although apparently from a distance) by a Roman Catholic priest, Father Francis Blanchet. However, Indian use and occupancy predominated on Whidbey until the early 1850s.

In 1850 the U.S. government passed the Oregon Donation Land Act, giving homestead rights to interested citizens. Married couples could claim up to six hundred and forty acres and single people could acquire up to three hundred and twenty acres.

Whidbey Island served as a trading post between Indian inhabitants and the Spanish, British, American and Russian traders. In addition to trading with the Indians, many attempts were made by the traders to convert them to the Christian religion. The establishment of the Catholic mission, "Whitby," accompanied Whidbey's first legal land claim by settler Thomas Glasgow. Soon, new settlers arrived bringing hopes and dreams embodied in a pioneer spirit. It was during the 1850's that a small number of Irish settlers laid claim to Whidbey. These early Irish settlers farmed, sold general merchandise, and took an active role in local government. They were also very friendly with the local Indians and became known as their "white brothers."

Noticeable growth and settlement of South Whidbey began in the 1880s. By 1900, nearly 500 persons were living on South Whidbey. The leading industry was not farming, but logging. The north and south ends of Whidbey functioned almost entirely as two separate communities.

In the early 1900s a sternwheeler ship served as the transportation link between Seattle and Oak Harbor, Coupeville, Langley and Clinton. The ship would leave Oak Harbor early each morning and complete the round trip by evening.

It wasn't until 1902 that the first county road was in place linking Coupeville, the county seat, with Langley. Until that time, access between the two regions was gained by boat or by walking 30 or 40 miles along the beach. The county road made trade and communication between North and South Whidbey a profitable affair.

Greenbank's history started in the early 1900's when Calvin Phillips created a model dairy farm, in hopes of luring commerce to the island. Using immigrant laborers, he cleared 125 acres in 1906.

"And the best, though not least of all, there are five thousand enthusiastic persons who are of the opinion that, after all, the garden of Eden never was permanently established on the east bank of the Mediterranean ... but right here on Whidbey Island, and preferably at Greenbank." The Westerner Magazine, November 1913

The farm prospered for several decades before its cattle herd was hit by tuberculosis and had to be destroyed.

The farm limped along until the early 1930s, when it was sold to John Molz, who planted the fields with their most famous crop - loganberries.

The origin and history of the Loganberry in the 1880's was the beginning of the use of breeding to obtain better commercial varieties. Judge J.H. Logan was an interested backyard plant breeder, who began experimenting with breeding small fruits in his home garden at Logan Heights near Santa Cruz, California. Unsatisfied with the many varieties of blackberries, Judge Logan tried to cross two varieties of blackberries and unwittingly planted next to an old variety of red raspberry that had been cultivated for years in the area. The canes of all three fruited and flowered together and Judge Logan gathered and planted the seed. The 50 seedlings grew and produced a plant that was similar to the blackberry parent Aughinbaugh variety, but much larger and stronger. This, of course, was the Loganberry; a cross between the blackberry and raspberry. The remaining 49 plants were the Mammoth Blackberry, the longest fruit of any variety ever grown. Since this time, viable crosses have been made between the cultivars of raspberry and blackberry producing offspring like the Logan to confirm it's parentage.

According to Molz's daughter, Mary Jo Stansbury, Greenbank Farm became the largest loganberry farm in the United States, with 125 acres of berry vines trellised across the hills.

Sold under the Pommerelle label, loganberry wine gained popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, although it was never a "high class" wine.

The Pomerelle Company merged with the National Wine Company (Nawico) to form American Wine Growers in 1954. In 1961 they introduced the Hadassim Kosher wine label.

Their product was almost entirely fortified sweet wines. Primarily produced apple wines, and gradually added other fruit wines. They had continued success through the post war slump that closed many of their compatriots.

Molz, a first generation German immigrant, became interested in growing grapes instead, and shifted his time and attention to Eastern Washington, where the climate was more amenable to grape production. The Washington wine industry was non-existent at that time, but one could say it was started at Greenbank Farm.

John Sinema managed the berry farm from the early 1950s until he retired in 1970, when Mun and Carolyn Kawasaki took over.

Carolyn Kawasaki remembers the years spent overseeing the fields, when hundreds of Whidbey Islanders picked berries for summer wages.

“The good pickers were the conscientious ones, the ones who came to pick,” she said.

With many of the pickers young and frisky teens, picking could give way to spirited berry fights with the slightest provocation.

“We had to separate the boys and girls,” she recalled.

Pickers who stayed for the whole season, roughly July through mid-September, were paid 10 cents a pound. A really good picker could harvest 300 pounds of the delicate berries in a day, raking in $30.

Although the Kawasakis toiled in the fields to keep the berries producing at their peak, Chateau Ste. Michelle, under U.S. Tobacco management, lost interest in Greenbank Farm, and production began to decline.

A March 1983 South Whidbey Record article said, “the future of the farm is in doubt.” The climate and soil at Greenbank were never ideal for loganberries, but they had been laboriously nurtured by the caretakers, with the addition of herbicides and pesticides. The article noted that the fields should have been sprayed in the winter to prevent insects from laying their eggs in the buds, but they weren’t.

Mun Kawasaki did what he could to keep the berries going, but production declined. Carolyn Kawasaki still has records of when fields were replanted, and how many barrels of berries were produced in a season. In 1982 they set a record with 748 barrels. By 1988 it was down to 400 barrels.

While the loganberries were withering on the vines at Greenbank Farm, Ste. Michelle had a backlog of berries in cold storage.

In 1987 the company decided to use that backlog to produce Whidbey’s Liqueur, and a rebirth for the farm was once again trumpeted in the press.

“Rainbow shines on winery celebration,” a Whidbey News-Times headline on Feb. 4, 1987, read. “Chateau Ste. Michelle’s liqueur production facility and visitors’ center at the site may be a pot o’ gold for Whidbey Island,” reporter Janice Keller wrote.

The opening of the new winery and visitors’ center was attended by then-president of Ste. Michelle, Allen Shoup, who said, “As rich as its history is, we think its future is more exciting.”

Chateau Ste. Michelle manager Gary Ando moved his family to Whidbey Island in 1987 to oversee this revitalization of the farm. He was excited about the project, and about bringing a community feel back to the farm.

Local teens were once again employed to pick berries and senior citizens were given the task of hand making ribbons and medallions for the liqueur bottles.

“I want the community to be proud of us,” he told the Whidbey News-Times then. Part of the community involvement was the Greenbank Farm Loganberry Festival, started in 1988, which still continues today.

The liqueur production, however, did not last. Once the backlog of berries was depleted, Greenbank Farm couldn’t produce enough berries cheaply to meet the company’s needs, and production was shifted to Oregon.

The farm once more fell on hard times, and in 1995 was in danger of being sold to developers. The local community rallied to save the farm, and in 1997 a deal was worked out between the Port of Coupeville, Island County and the Nature Conservancy to purchase the entire farm.

Ando stayed on as director of the newly formed Greenbank Farm Management Group until 1999, but he said he left because they could not pay the salary that he was getting from Ste. Michelle.

He stayed on Whidbey though, and now manages the garden center at Ace Hardware in Freeland.

“I love the island,” he said. “I’ll never leave.”

Ando also has strong feelings for Greenbank Farm, so much so that last weekend was the first time he was returned since ending his tenure.

He seemed impressed as Laura Blankenship, the farm’s executive director, showed him the changes made in the last few years. The wine shop, Whidbey Pies Cafe, and the renovated main barn, all fit the goal that Ando held for the farm.

“I want the farm to succeed,” he said. “The main thing is to preserve the character of times past. They’ve done a good job of that.”

Barn number two, which the Port recently remodeled, is named in Ando’s honor, for his contribution to the farm’s history.

“I always wanted the farm to be a focal point of the community,” he said. With the farm set to recieve $1.5 million from the state this year, it would seem safe to say the rainbow has returned to Greenbank Farm.

Washington’s wine industry was mired in ‘plonk’ wines until Chateau Ste Michelle hired Andre Tchelistcheff, a French scientist brought from Paris to work at BV in the 1930’s, as a consultant. (Tchelistcheff was also a mentor and teacher to Mike Grgich, Robert Mondavi and many other wine legends at the time). The death of the Concord, Nawico and Pommerelle varietal wines was followed by the Washington birth of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

The Stimson Lane Company, a subsidiary of the American Tobacco Company is a mammoth wine producer in the state, now owner of the Chateau Ste. Michelle label as well as Columbia Crest, Snoqualmie, Domaine Ste. Michelle, Farron Ridge and others.

In 1965, Maynard Amerine's classic book Wine, said “Washington state has a large acreage of Concords...” That book contained three sentences about Washington wines, and 370 pages about France and California.

In 1967, American Wine Growers began a new line of premium vinifera wines under the name Ste. Michelle.

“Chateau Ste. Michelle” was first used on a label in 1967.

In 1972, a group of investors headed up by Wally Opdyke bought out AWG in it's entirety, and formed a new company under the name of Ste. Michelle Vintners -- it was very successful. In 1974, Chateau Ste. Michelle began its rapid growth and improvement of wine quality when it became a subsidiary of United States Tobacco Company. It was then that it began producing quality red wines. With the lead of Chateau Ste. Michelle and Associated Vintners, other wineries including Preston, Bingen, and Hinzerling began their commercial production.