The island was named for Joseph Whidbey, a Royal Navy who accompanied Peter Puget as one of the first explorers of the area in 1792. The first permanent European settler was Colonel Isaac N. Ebey, in 1850. In 1857 Ebey was killed and beheaded by Haida Indians.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the island has about 58,000 residents, roughly half of them in rural locations. The largest city on the island is Oak Harbor, which in 2000 had a population of just under 20,000.
Whidbey Island can be reached by road (via the Deception Pass Bridge, which connects Whidbey to the mainland via Fidalgo Island), by ferry or by air. It has several dirt airstrips and two public airports. Local airline Kenmore Air Express provides a daily service to the island.
The Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, near Oak Harbor, is home to 19 active-duty and two reserve Navy air squadrons. Navy spending is the largest part of the Oak Harbor economy. The rest of the island relies heavily on tourism and small-scale agriculture.
Whidbey Island, alongside two inhabited and six uninhabited Puget Sound islands, is a part of Island County, Washington. The county seat is the Whidbey town of Coupville, in the northern part of the island.
