Half way between Oak Harbor and Coupeville, off the south side of busy Highway 20, stands the 1911 San de Fuca dock, on beautiful Penn’s Cove.

Although the big “Boom Town” of San de Fuca went bust, the center of all activity and early transportation still stands as a testament to the exciting days gone by.

The current dock, at the age of 94 years, is for sale. As the second oldest dock left on the island, with the Coupeville dock being a few years older, it boasts an interesting history.

This is the second dock to be built in old San de Fuca, the first one being known as the “Armstrong dock.” The original dock was deemed unsafe, so the San de Fuca community members took it upon themselves to raise money and construct this new, safer one. All dug deep into their own pockets for the funds, and even sold shares in the new dock.

Pile drivers were brought from Everett and Seattle. The community folks of San de Fuca hammered and nailed, all volunteer laborers.

The dock was used by the early day sternwheelers of the “Mosquito Fleet” to transport people from Oak Harbor, Coupeville and Langley to Seattle and other ports in between. The boats also brought the mail to the dock daily. In 1935 the bridge was built at Deception Pass, putting an end to the need for water transportation.

The Stokley Van Camp Company then bought the San de Fuca dock from the shareholders, along with some of the surrounding beach. They established a vegetable cannery and used the dock to ship from. Stokley soon moved the business to Mount Vernon and sold the dock and beach property to Glenn Darst. Glenn used the dock to ship his potatoes and fresh turkeys to Seattle.

Darst then sold the dock to Harry Fakkema in 1949, keeping most of the beach property though, on which he built his home. Fakkema started the Standard Oil Company in San de Fuca and used the dock for many years, at which time it was referred to as “The Standard Oil dock.”

After Fakkema closed the oil company, the dock was mainly used by local kids to fish from.

In 1984 Pete and Beryl Jefferds bought the dock from the Fakkemas and established the Penn Cove Shellfish Company, specializing in Penn Cove mussels.

Ian and Karen Jefferds, along with Rawle Jefferds, bought the dock and business from their parents. The Jefferds have replaced many of the beams, stringers and planks, as well as reinforced the pilings underneath. They now have the old dock up for sale, as they need more space for business than the little building at the end of the dock provides.

The dock is commercially zoned, and comes with a nice piece of beach land. One cannot build on the beach, but a business such as a charter boat company could use the dock. Perhaps it would make a nice getaway retreat for a rich person, with a private yacht.

Peggy Darst Townsdin is a freelance writer and local historian, author of “Step Back in Time” and “Spirit of the Island.” For more information e-mail her at pctownsdin@coupeville.net.