Wayne Lewis’ latest creation is a work in progress, resting on a stack of cinder blocks in a rustic studio in the North Whidbey woods.

The clay sculpture is starting to show the likeness of a prominent, early pioneer of Oak Harbor and his bride as seen in a faded photograph of them taken in 1865.

The hope is for Capt. Edward Barrington and Christina McCrohan to be immortalized on Pioneer Way.

Lewis plans to donate the work to the City of Oak Harbor in yet another gesture to the community he’s called home for three decades.

In September, he gave the city a sculpture he made of a Native American fisherman to recognize the city’s earliest inhabitants.

Lewis began discussions with Oak Harbor Arts Commission member and local historian Peggy Darst-Townsdin several years ago about the need to bring attention to the city’s early pioneers.

Barrington was identified because of his prominent role in early Oak Harbor history as a businessman, sea captain and landowner.

Although he wasn’t among the first wave of donation land claim owners, Barrington purchased two major claims and took ownership of much of the waterfront property that makes up the city’s historic downtown core, said Darst-Townsdin, who is Barrington’s great-great-granddaughter.

He also opened the first general store/saloon in Oak Harbor on the main street through town that bears the name Barrington Avenue.

That road kept the name for about a century until being renamed Pioneer Way in the 1950s.

“It was the first general store,” Lewis said. “I’d liken that to the first Walmart. He was it.”

Darst-Townsdin said McCrohan’s mark on Oak Harbor also was significant.

“When Captain Barrington passed away in 1883, she inherited a lot of the land,” Darst-Townsdin said. “She had a lot of land plotted out into lots, setting aside that (Oak Tree Park), now Smith Park, could remain a town park.

“In a way, she officially established the town as a plotted-out city with lots of town parks.”

Lewis said he is about 80 percent done with the sculpture, needing to add detail to the faces and hair “and smooth things out.”

He said the piece is similar in size as the “Island Spirit” Native American sculpture. It is 3 feet tall and will rest on a 3-foot pedestal.

Lewis plans to take his proposal to the arts commission in the spring. He is asking that the city cover costs for bronze casting just like it did with the Native American artwork.

Oak Harbor’s Ron Wallin designed, built and donated the base for that project.

Lewis estimated the bronze casting would cost about $12,000 for the Barrington piece, which is about double the cost of the Native American sculpture because there are two figures to cast instead of one.

If the proposal meets commission approval, the matter will go before a vote of the city council.

The idea is for the Barrington piece to join other sculptures on Pioneer Way at roughly the location of the old Barrington general store at the east end of street.

Lewis also created the bronze of a Dutch boy sweeper at Windjammer Park.

“I don’t know what my next project will be,” Lewis said.