Historic Langley

1906/1907. Looking west from First Street. Red arrow indicates vacant lots on Anthes Avenue between Second Street and Alley (Courtesy Island County Historical Society).

Lloyd Carter purchased vacant lots from the South Whidbey Lodge #322 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1950 and built a two-story building on one of them.

1950: Langley Auto Rebuild

Circa 1955. Lloyd Carter's "Langley Auto Rebuild" (Courtesy Lloyd Carter).

The first floor housed Lloyd's "Langley Auto Rebuild" business. The paint bay was originally on the right side, but when his wife complained of the fumes coming up into the living quarters upstairs, Lloyd built a lean-to on the south side to serve as the paint bay.

Circa 1970. Paint bay on the south side enclosed (Courtesy Pam Schell).

The paint bay was enclosed prior to 1970 and Cobbler Richard Edwin ("Dick") Schultz had "Dick’s Handmade Boots" in the space. The bay was L-shaped and went from the street to the back and then to the right. Dick Schultz closed and moved to his property on Blue Lady Lane in 1972.

Calvin Guthrie's "Bananafish Music" store then occupied the space for a short time. Calvin got his records from Skip Demuth who had Red Star Music on First Street.

1973. Bananafish Music (Everett Herald, October 10, 1973).

Sue Ellen White rented the space from owners Paul and Pam Schell with the help of a small business loan and opened "The People’s Cobbler" in March, 1976. The business name came from words on a cobbler’s knife. She had apprenticed with Dick Schultz, and according to Neil Colburn, "Sue Ellen made probably the world's heaviest set of logging boots for me. High tops with laces. Took me about 20 minutes to take them off."

1977. Sue Ellen White in front of "The People’s Cobbler" (Photo by Preston Sanbo courtesy Sue Ellen White).

Sue Ellen sold the cobbler business to Danny McIver in 1978, who operated "Cobbler" there for a short time.

Ron and Marilyn Bunker’s Whidbey Island Antiques occupied the main retail area in 1978. They shared the space with Maxine's art gallery with things bought at the fairgrounds. It lasted about three years.

1976. Working on the Former Auto Rebuild building. Ron and Marilyn Bunker standing near bottom right. (Courtesy Ron and Marilyn Bunker).

Scott Freutel started a letter press business named "Spring Valley Press" in the little building on the west side of the building in1976 before moving to the vacant Norman Clyde Motors Building a few doors down in 1979

1969. Small building at the back of the former Lloyd Carter building (arrow) (Courtesy Neil Colburn).

Wellspring Wellness occupied the North side of the building.

1976: Wellspring Clinic.

1976. Working on the bicentennial quilt (Courtesy Marjorie Dente).

1976. The bicentennial quilt (Courtesy Marjorie Dente).

Women on South Whidbey had limited access to health services In the early 1970's. They had to go off island to get care. In 1976, Langley resident Marjorie Morris organized over 50 people to create an historical quilt that was raffled off as a fundraiser for a clinic. It raised $3,500, and the "Wellspring Clinic" opened in the "Anthes Emporium" building in September, 1976 with Marj Dente as the first manager. Initial services were health education, massage therapy and alcohol awareness.

Circa 1977. Wellspring volunteers. Top row: Carol Bennett, Patty Wilson and Steve Shapiro. Bottom: Unknown, Jackie Henderson, Marge Morris Dente and Karen Freutel. (Courtesy Island Views).

The group used Dr. Shapiro's clinic on First Street one night a week for a family planning clinic and a well-child clinic starting in 1977. The alcohol awareness and well-child clinic were taken over by Island County, and the women's health clinic was eventually taken over by Washington State Planned Parent Association and moved to Oak Harbor in 1985. The Langley offices of Wellspring then moved to 221 Second Street.

1980: Bunkers buy building

Paul Schell sold the building to Lawrence Schneider, who sold it to Ron and Marilyn Bunker in 1980. The Bunkers expanded their Whidbey Island Antiques business and remodeled the exterior with the help of Todd Soli, Architect, and contractor Mark Miller.

Larry Schneider coined the term "Anthes Emporium" for the structure, and the Bunkers had a round sign painted that hung on the front of the building. years.

Circa 1984. Anthes Emporium (courtesy Langley City Hall).

The sign on the north side of the building in the photo above reads; Whidbey Island Antiques, and Nancy's at Anthes Baby Shoppe. The Bunkers opened Whidbey Island Antiques in the building in 1978 and shared the space with Nancy Andrew's baby shop.

Another sign on the north side of the building reads "Cooperative Design." This was the business of John Raabe. John was the partner of architect Ross Chapin who had an office in the small building behind the main building from early 1983 to 1987. According to Ross, "We shared a tiny toilet room with Nancy Andrews, who had the shop fronting on Anthes." Patty Wilson had a retail fabric store in the annex prior to John and Ross.

According to Marilyn Bunker, "We painted and repainted exterior five times with new color themes. The first awning was installed in the beginning couple years of ownership and was replaced with each new color theme. With the final remodel the awning was replaced with the existing permanent parapet."

Circa 1985. Bunker's Whidbey Island Antiques (Courtesy Marilyn Bunker).

1986. Building painted white for Dixie Lanes movie (Courtesy Ron Lind).

The building, like many other buildings in town, was painted white during filming of the Dixie Lanes movie in 1986. The "Dewey's Furniture" sign on the side of the building was taken from a building on First Street.

The awning on the front of the building was removed, and the building was painted white for the filming of the "Dixie Lanes" movie in 1986. The awning was never returned and the Bunkers had to buy a new one.

1992. Anthes Emporium (Courtesy Christine Schoeler).

2004. Whidbey Island Antiques (Courtesy Robert Waterman).

2007. Whidbey Baby (Courtesy Robert Waterman).

The Bunkers sold the building in 2007 to Bar D Investments, LLC. The second story was remodeled into vacation rental units, and a baby shop was "coming soon" on the first floor. The Baby shop never materialized and the ground floor became vacant.

2015: Langley Whale Center

2016. Langley Whale Center (Courtesy Langley Whale Center).

The Langley Whale Center moved from next door into the building on November 14, 2015, then moved two doors down Anthes Avenue in 2017, leaving the ground floor vacant once again.

2022: Alma In June, 2022, Diane Sorensen and her daughter, Kelly Sorensen Hansen opened Alma, a store specializing in "natural, organic clothing, toys and essentials for the whole family."

2022. Alma (Courtesy Robert Waterman).