Historic Langley

1946: Frick Hardware and Garden

1946. Frick Hardware (arrow) (Courtesy Robert Waterman).

Originally built by Wallace Henry ("Wally") Frick as a machine shop. A second building added later north of the original structure served as a garden store with an apartment above. Wally's wife Sallie ran the garden shop and operated a small nursery.

1954. Fair parade in front of Frick Hardware and Garden Supplies (arrow) (Courtesy Island County Fair).

A small middle section was added between the two prior buildings circa 1960 to form one long structure.

1969. Middle section (arrow) (Courtesy Neil Colburn).

After Wally Frick died in 1962, Roger Hedgecock bought it and the hardware store for a time.

Circa 1970: Skipper's inn

Circa 1980: Skipper's Inn (Courtesy Brian McKenna).

Roger Hedgecock sold the building to Glenn Borseau who opened "Skipper's Inn restaurant. According to Brian McKenna, "He practically lived in his very dark windowless bar which was towards the middle/back. His son Steve and wife ran the restaurant up front."

Pauline Barrett bought the building in 1978, and sold it to her son-in-law, Walter Cobb, in 1980. Walter and his wife Delores took it over and "brightened it up. Her daughter Pam helped run the place too" (Brian McKenna). Delores Cobb became owner in 1980 when she and Walter divorced.

According to Sandy Izett, "When you first entered Second Street there was the coffee shop. The coffee shop was part of Skippers when Delores Cobb was mayor and she owned the whole building. Retired 'old-timer guys' would go to Skippers in the morning and roll dice to see who'd pay for the coffee and tell jokes. They used to give newly arrived single women a hard time in a fun way. For example, they joked about the amount of time you had to live here to be a regular. Because they had seen so many people come and go, they weren't going to waste their time with someone who would be out of here after a year. There was a really big room where they would have dinners and dancing on special occasions. At another end of the building they had a cocktail lounge. It was a comfortable after-work meeting place. This was the one and only after-work meeting place for merchants and others. There would be a lawyer or a clerk from the drugstore socializing. On top of the building was the apartment where Delores Cobb lived."

"Langley had a history of power outages on Thanksgiving. Delores Cobb's ovens ran by propane, so people brought half cooked turkeys to finish them off." (Glen Hauser).

"There was a bar in the back of it where they had a piano player and you could dance." (Jean Bjorn)

At some point, windows were added facing Frick Lane and the name was changed from "Skipper's Inn" to "Langley Cafe and Second Street Bar."

Circa 1984: Langley Cafe and Second Street Bar (Courtesy Herb Helsel).

Delores Cobb sold the building to Roger B. Shaffer in 1988. The center section was remodeled and a new false front added. A number of spaces were created in the building, and numerous businesses occupied them over the years.

2017. Sketch of floor plan (Courtesy Herb Helsel).

101: Early occupants were Raymond Cooke's British Shop, Andrew Gilkenson's Ace Leather, then George Guzman's GHL, UPS, Fed Ex shop.

102/103: Early businesses in these spaces included Skip Demuth's "Whidbey Appraisal" in 103, and Von Wolfgang Richards, an Episcopal priest who had studied with Margaret Meade painted lobby green and sold his art in 103 and 105.

2004. Knox Photo (right side) (Courtesy Robert Waterman).

Knox Photo occupied 102 & 103 in 1989 and provided film developing and printing services.

2004. Knox Photo (Courtesy Chris Waterman).

In 2004, Joe Menth and his mother Nancy McFarland moved into a small space behind Knox Photo (105) where they began printing giclee prints or canvas gallery wraps. When Knox Photo closed in 2005, Joe and Nancy they expanded their Fine Balance Imaging Studios into the space vacated by Knox Photo before moving to Bayview in 2006.

2007. Words and Pictures (Courtesy Robert Waterman).

John Williams had a used book and photo gallery called "Words and Pictures" for a short time in the space vacated by Fine Balance Imaging.

In 2009, the Whidbey Art Gallery moved in, eventually enlarging to occupy 102 - 106.

2012. Whidbey Art Gallery - An Artists' Cooperative (Courtesy Robert Waterman).

104 & 105: Geri Gilpin's Golden Otter Books occupied 104 & 105 before moving up the street. Thomas Nelson took over 104 and had gift items from 1991-1992. He also used the apartment above as an art gallery in 1993.

106: GHL, UPS, Fed Ex occupied 106 before it moved into 101. Then Walt Blackford had an office in 106 for a short time.

107: Vicky Peloquin gift shop then Violet Fields Flower Shop occupied 107 before it moved to First Street in the late 1990's.

108: Gordon Rosenberg had Middleway Books and Reike in 108 followed by the Langley Chamber of Commerce. When the Bakery opened in a small space across the Street in 1991, Marie Bird, who owned the Bakery wanted to put an oven in 103. When she couldn't get a permit , she moved large mixing machines into a small room behind 108 that was accessed by a door on the north end of the building. This served for a time as a prep room for the Bakery.

Sharon Turner opened Sharon's gift items in 108. Vickie Peloquin bought the business from Sharon and took over back area. She had incense, crystals, psychic theory. Then the Langley Chamber of Commerce. Gunning shared office with Roger Shaffer for a few months in chamber area before Roger moved into 103.

After Delores Cobb moved out of the apartment, it was rented to Paul Devina, then Gunning Butler shared an office with Roger Shaffer for a few months in 1990. In 1991-1992, Thomas Nelsen then took over the apartment as an art gallery for a year. After Thomas moved his art gallery out, several renters lived in the apartment until the building was purchased by Herb Helsel in 1997.

2007. Langley Clock & Gallery (Courtesy Robert Waterman).

Herb Helsel bought the building in 1997 and opened his Clock Shop and Gallery in 107 & 108 in 2000. His wife Marilyn had a gift shop ("Timeless Treasures") at the north end of 108, and the couple lived in the apartment above.

2007. North end of the building (Courtesy Robert Waterman).

2018. GHL and Whidbey Art Gallery (Courtesy Robert Waterman).

2022. Julie Larsen bought GHL (in suite 101) following George Guzman's retirement and opened the Full Circle Business Center.

2023. Full Circle Business Center (Courtesy Robert Waterman).