Interpretive Program

Deception Pass State Park

Creating a Park at Cranberry Lake

Elizabeth Bentz, First Day Hike
Message: Cranberry Lake’s past shaped the community, popularity, and appearance of the Deception Pass State Park
we see today.

Goals:

 Participants will learn about how Cranberry Lake led to the bridge being build.
 Participants will learn about the create of CCC shelters and buildings.
 Participants will learn how the picnic in the park brought together Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands.
 Participants will explore cranberry lake in the past through photographs.

Objectives:

 Participants will be able to list the two ways Cranberry Lake’s past shaped the appearance of the park.
 Participants will be able to explain the role of the Picnic in the Park to the park’s community.
 Participants will be able to list one way Cranberry Lake looked different in the past than it does now.

Vehicle: Community  Appearance  Popularity

The community of the park allowed it to be a space people cared about which gave way to the advocacy that led to
bridge and development of the park. These structures and bridge gave the park a charming an iconic appearance which
helped the park to become one of Washington’s most popular state parks.

Tangible(s): Intangible(s):

 CCC Structures  Past

 Cranberry Lake  Relationship
 Speeches  Present
 Picnic  Change over time
 Deception Pass Bridge  Community
 Recreation  Popularity
 Historic Photos

Images:

 Cranberry Lake Historical Photos

 Current Park Photos
 CCC Historical Photos
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Deception Pass State Park

Introduction
Stop 1: Standing right in the middle of East Cranberry Lake Area

Welcome/Audience Needs:
Hello everyone, my name is Elizabeth, and I am an AmeriCorps interpretive naturalist here at Deception Pass State Park.

Interpretive Hook: I’d love to welcome you all to Cranberry Lake. Today, we will be taking a journey back in time to
discover the important role Cranberry Lake played in the creation of the Deception Pass State Park many of us know and
love today. Please keep in mind that all of places we explore on our journey can be easily accessed within the park on
your next visit to Cranberry Lake.

Now while I show you what this area looks like, I would like you all to think about a time spent outside enjoying nature.
Cranberry Lake is one of the more iconic natural features here at Deception Pass State Park and popular place for
recreation throughout the year.

I hope everyone was able to recall a memory enjoying nature. Our past can hold many incredible moments. Cranberry
Lake is an area that has an intriguing past. Today, I would like to invite you all on a journey through time to discover how
Cranberry Lake’s past shaped the community, popularity, and appearance of Deception Pass State Park.

Transition
On our time traveling journey, we will be going back to the early 1900s. I would like to invite you all to count with me as
we make our jump back in time. On three. 1..2..3

Topic #1 Picnic in the Park

Stop 2:

Intro (Setting the scene):

Welcome to the 1920s! We are at Cranberry Lake for the annual Farm Bureau Inter-Island Picnic. It is a warm summer
day, and the area is crowded with thousands of people. The swimming hole is filled with kids laughing and splashing in
the water. People are laying on the warm, green grass. There is a WACK from a bat nearby where kids are playing ball on
the lake shores. The smell of greasy fries, wafts through the air and the music from a local Anacortes band is playing
loudly in your ears. Nearby, a group has gathered where a pie eating contest is about to start. This event is a hub of
activity and excitement.

Question: Have you ever heard of the inter-island picnic before? If you have not, let me give you a little background
The inter-island picnic, later known as the annual picnic or the picnic in the park was started in 1919 by the Island
County Farm Bureau as a way to bring together Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island residents so they could become better
acquainted with one another. This was before Deception Pass was even a State Park! The first picnic was a huge success
and in subsequent years attracted people from Bellingham, Mt. Vernon, Port Townsend, and other surrounding areas.
This picnic took place from 1919 until at least 1935 where it gathered thousands of visitors each year. The first few
picnics were held at Cornet Bay before they moved to the much-loved Cranberry Lake.
Now these picnics, were full of fun events. Some of the events included pie eating contests, watermelon eating contests,
races, tug-o-war, high jump, broad jump, baseball throwing contest, bands, and education programs. A little fun fact. In
1930, as part of the Picnic At 4:00pm Mrs. Manchester of Anacortes attempted to swim the Deception Pass. I cannot
imagine swimming across Deception Pass!
Besides activities, the picnics were also known for their speeches. They attracted politicians and prominent figures.
Some of these speeches even advocated for the land around Deception Pass to become a State Park. It was advocacy
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Deception Pass State Park

such as this and other political activities, that encouraged the government to grant three military reserves to
Washington State to create Deception Pass State Park. On April 17 th, 1922 Deception Pass was signed as a State Park. In
honor of the community that helped to advocate for it, the State Park was dedicated at the annual inter-island picnic on
July 20th, 1922. This cemented Whidbey and Fidalgo Island together in a new way, a shared State Park between them.
Topic Transition: Each year the picnics attracted thousands of people, making the park a popular place. The picnic at
Cranberry Lake created a community for the park. That community would later play an important role in choosing to
build one of the most iconic structures within the park. Stretching between Whidbey and Fidalgo Island, this structure
created a valuable connection for island residents.

I’d like to encourage everyone to take a moment to reflect. If you have been to Deception Pass State Park before or seen
pictures of the park, what do you think these iconic structures might be? Let’s jump from the 1920s to the 1930s to learn
more. On three. 1.. 2..3

Topic #2: Bridge

Stop 3: Along the Cranberry Lake trail

Intro (Setting the scene): Some of you may have said the Deception and Canoe Pass Bridges! The picnic in the park was
crucial to the creation of the bridges. We have jumped to 1935 and the bridges are officially opening. We are standing
on the Deception Pass and Canoe Pass Bridges as Representative Pearl Wanamaker cuts the ribbon to officially open the
bridge. There is excitement in the air, over 4000 people have come out to see this momentous event take place. With a
snapping sound, the ribbon is cut, and the bridge is open to traffic! The crowd now disperses to Cranberry Lake to
celebrate the opening with an afternoon picnic full of food, music, and watersports. Life has changed forever for the
island residents.

For many people, the bridges are an iconic image of Deception Pass State Park and an important route of travel between
the islands. Let us take a moment to think back before 1935 and installation of the bridges, how might people have
traveled?

A lot of you may have thought about the ferries. For $0.50 cents per car or $0.10 cents per person, one could travel
across the water aboard the Deception Pass Ferry.

A ferry journey between islands could be time consuming, and some people saw the opportunity to create easier access
by building two bridges across Deception Pass. Politicians and active community members began to use the annual
picnics at Cranberry Lake as a way to garner support for the bridges. The Anacortes American Newspaper wrote that the
picnics, “were a crucial event in creating community and political support for the building of Deception Pass Bridge.” Not
everyone was happy about the possibility of the bridges though. Some feared the change the bridges might bring change
to their quiet island communities where small towns and family-owned businesses were the heart and soul.

Many were instrumental in the conversations which eventually led to the construction of bridges but political support
finally took hold when Representative Pearl Wanamaker introduced a bill to build a bridge over Deception and Canoe
Pass. The bill passed unanimously in the house … then passed unanimously in the senate…and then when everything
looked to be in the clear, the bill was vetoed by the Governor

Although the first try for a bridges were not met with success, advocacy and support from the community at the annual
picnic enabled new hope in the legislature. At the 1933 picnic in the park, over 3,500 residents from Whidbey and
Fidalgo Island pledged their support to the bridge and by August of 1934 construction had started. To the excitement of
many and apprehension of some, the bridges were completed in less than a year on July 31 st, 1935.

Topic Transition:
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Deception Pass State Park

Around the same time the bridges were being built, there were other changes happening at Deception Pass State Park.
After many years of limited to no funding and in the midst of the Great Depression, the park’s structures, roads, and
trails were not in great shape. With the election of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a new program was formed to
create jobs and enhance recreation in state and national parks. Washington State Parks jumped at the opportunity for
assistance and between 1933 and 1938 young men played an important role in Deception Pass State Park’s history. Can
you guess what this program was called? Let us travel to 1938 to learn more. On three. 1.. 2..3

Topic #3: Civilian Conservation Corps

Stop 3: At smaller CCC Shelter overlooking the lake

Intro (Setting the scene): Some of you may have guessed it…the program was the Civilian Conservation Corps. Imagine
being a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Getting on a train and leaving everything you have ever known
behind. Adjusting to a new place and lifestyle of outdoor work. THUNKS fill your ears as nearby shovels hit the ground,
spewing rocks and dirt in all directions. The sun shines down causing a beautiful reflection on the nearby lake as you
work. You look around, some men are carefully placing rocks as they construct the walls of buildings while others are
working together to clear a new trail through the dense forests. You are part of an important program at Deception Pass
State Park.

Some of you may have heard of the CCC before. The civilian conservation corps, also known as Roosevelt’s tree army,
was a work program created during the Great Depression to give young men a job working on environmental projects.
Deception Pass State Park was chosen as one of the places to receive the benefits of their work. Cranberry Lake was
selected as one of the places in the park to improve.

The CCC tore down old buildings at Cranberry Lake and replaced them with new ones created in a rustic fashion. At
Cranberry Lake they built a variety of structures such as picnic shelters, Comfort Station, and bathrooms.

The Comfort Station was eventually taken down, but the picnic shelters live on to tell the story of their labor. These
structures and many others around the park helped to increase opportunities for recreation as Deception Pass State
Park became one of Washington State’s most popular parks.

Transition: Let’s head back to present day to see how these events have contributed to the development of the
Deception Pass State Park we know and love today. Lets time travel one last time. On three. 1.. 2..3

Conclusion
Stop 5: Cranberry Lake Dock
Today, people come from all over to visit Deception Pass State Park. I am standing next to this beautiful, serene lake that
is so much more than meets the eye. The community established in the 1920s here at Cranberry Lake and the
picturesque look built in the 1930s were only steppingstones to the park’s continued popularity today.

I wonder what this park would have looked like had Cranberry Lake not been such a special place to the residents of
Fidalgo and Whidbey Island and even those who came before. We may never know, but I encourage you to think about
that and the connections we have to the places we love. The past has made this park special, what can you do to
continue its legacy and shape its future?
On half of myself and Washington State Parks, thank you all for joining me on this journey back in time as we explored
one small piece of history, of one of Washington’s most beloved state parks, Deception Pass State Park!