314 First Street

Music for the Eyes / Roderick McLeod House / Department Store / Artist Co-op

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First Street looking east c. 1911. (Courtesy South Whidbey Historical Society)

Roderick McLeod and his family arrived in Langley in 1905. They lived in a two story house on Second Street while Roderick his father-in-law, Ed Howard, built a house and adjacent two-story hotel on First Street.

1925: The house was purchased by Langley banker, Ernest Noble, Sr.

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1926: Stanley Hunziker and son Bill across First Street from the Roderick McLeod Home (right) and Howard Hotel (left).

The Noble's came from Canada to run the Langley State Bank. After Ernest Noble senior's death in 1933, his son Ernest, Jr. remained in the house until selling it to Fern Livingston and her husband in 1942.

1942: Livingston Department Store

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Livingston's store 1940's (Courtesy Helen Price Johnson).

The Livingstons operated a store in the former home from 1942 to 1949.

1949: Duncan department store

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Duncan's Department store ca. 1950 (Courtesy Helen Price Johnson)

Irene and Cyrus Duncan purchased the building in 1949 and transformed it into a Department Store. Fern Livingston continued working there.

1956: Jones' Department Store

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1957 (Courtesy Darrell Corbin).

Vincent and Matilda Jones bought the building in 1956 and remodeled it into the Jones' Department Store.

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Circa 1984. Aerial views of Jones' Department Store (Courtesy South Whidbey Historical Society).

Vincent and Matilda expanded the building in 1962, adding floor space and a new front facade.

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Circa 1962. Inside the Jones' Department Store (Courtesy Helen Price Johnson).

The store carried a "full line of clothing for the family." Vincent served twice as Langley's mayor. Matilda died in 1982.

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Circa 1962. Inside the apartment on the north side (Courtesy Helen Price Johnson).

After Vincent's death in 1965, his daughter, Virginia Jones Price, purchased the business and ran it in collaboration with her mother. After Matilda's death in 1982, Virginia continued running the business with her daughter Helen Price Johnson. Helen bought the business in 1986 and continued operation until 1992.

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Jones' Department Store ca. 1989 (Courtesy Helen Price Johnson).