7/28/2010 5:12:00 PM Coupeville replaces Keystone as state ferry terminal name
You won't see this scene much longer: the 50-car ferry Steilacoom II departing Keystone terminal. In September, it's going to be the 64-car ferry Chetzemoka departing Coupeville terminal. Photo by Patrick J. Sullivan
By Patrick J. Sullivan of the Leader
The state has assigned a new name to an old harbor, plus names for two ferries still months away from service. The Washington State Transportation Commission on July 13 unanimously approved changing the ferry terminal name on Central Whidbey Island from Keystone to Coupeville. The Port Townsend/Coupeville name becomes official on Washington State Ferries publications and websites with the fall sailing schedule. It's still the Port Townsend/Keystone route until the schedule change in September. Business leaders from the Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce pushed for the terminal name change from Keystone to Coupeville. Keystone is just the ferry landing next to Fort Casey State Park; Coupeville is the nearest town and visitor destination, about four miles from the landing. Historical research points to Keystone being a promotional name from 1909 in regards to its proximity to marine traffic. For years prior, Port Townsend had billed itself as the Key City of Puget Sound. At the same meeting, the sister ships to the 64-car Chetzemoka (due for service here Aug. 30) were also named. These are the first new state ferries in more than a decade. The Salish is slated to join what will be the Port Townsend/Coupeville route in spring 2011. Salish is a term used by linguists to describe the peoples and languages of tribes in the Pacific Northwest. In 2009 the Washington State Board on Geographic Names approved "Salish Sea" as the collective name for the body of water that includes Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Georgia Strait. It did not eliminate the names of any of the several bodies of water within the Salish Sea on either side of the international border. However, the proposal mandates that cartographers must use Salish Sea on all maps and in all atlases. The third boat of the same class will become the Kennewick, assigned to the Point Defiance/Tahlequah route starting in winter 2012. The ferry naming decision follows the successful drive led by the Jefferson County Historical Society to have the first ferry become Chetzemoka after a 19th-century S'Klallam chief. This is the second time there has been a ferry Chetzemoka plying local waters. The first suggestion from the Whidbey Island side of the route was Squi-Qui, for another chief. But the state commission decided not to set a precedent of naming ferries after individuals. Plus, the commission decided that one of these first three ferries also needed to represent Eastern Washington, not just the coast. The ferry Kennewick represents the word Kin-i-wak. Native Americans gathered along the banks of the Columbia River in the area known to them as Kin-i-wak – grassy place, winter haven, or grassy slope. Other ferry name suggestions were Samish, Tokitae and Cowlitz. Port Townsend fourth-grader Rose Dunlap came up with the name to signify the new class of 64-car ferries now under construction, selected in January 2010 by the state. The name is Kwa-di Tabil (pronounced kwah DEE tah-bale), which means "little boat" in the Quileute language.
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, July 29, 2010
Article comment by:
davis steelquist
I find it odd that both Coupeville and PT see themselves as the destination of the ferry travelers. It might be true for the tradespeople using the ferry, or people with families in each town, or for some rare people that live on one side and work on the other. However having watched the traffic at this end, it's obvious that Port Townsend is no more than the ferry dock for travelers enroute to points south and west. Likewise Coupeville is just a bend in the road to greater destinations (except for those headed to Clinton). I'll concede that people stop in both towns for MacDonald's because it's cheaper than the ferry fare and Coupeville offers a greater variety of fast food, but you won't find people taking the ferry for that distinction.
So business people think changing the ferry destination name will improve business? There would probably be more tourists if it was called the Fort Casey - Fort Worden Ferry.
Posted: Thursday, July 29, 2010
Article comment by:
ROBERT ALTMAN
Y'all have got to be kidding! I thought it was an April's fool joke when this re naming of the ferry route was first mentioned.
Now that the ferry supposedly goes to Coupeville the arrow off the ferry dock to Coupeville should actually point to the town (left) instead of right. You want a ferry route to your town? Deal with the traffic!
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