24. The Charm of Port Townsend, Washington: Class, Culture, and Convenience, May 2021

We left Seattle from Lake Union through the Hiram Chittenden Locks and headed into Puget Sound. After anchoring again in Port Ludlow for one night, we arrived in Port Hudson Marina near the old town of Port Townsend. 

Our reason for going to Port Townsend was double: first, we needed some work done on the mast and on the standing rigging and second, we needed our bimini top replaced. We had researched many businesses for these jobs and it turned out that this town was home to our top choices. Brion Toss Yacht Rigging would work on our mast and, fortunately, we were able to coordinated the two jobs with the SEA Marine Canvas shop. It also gave us the opportunity to discover this lovely little town.

Port Townsend is located on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.  Settled around 1850,  it was expected to become the largest harbor on the west coast of the United States. Serving as the US Customs Service headquarters from 1854 to 1911 and as the first city at the entrance to Puget Sound, it became also known as the “Key City”. The town flourished in the late 1800s and early 1900s with many homes and buildings styled in ornate Victorian architecture.  The city declined in the Great Depression, and even more when the Northern Pacific Railroad failed to connect the city to the eastern Puget Sound city of Tacoma, Washington. Over the next several decades, the town’s economy was sustained by the maritime industry and a lumber mill south of town. What is most satisfying about Port Townsend today is to see how well the buildings and houses have been maintained over the years despite the decline from its heyday at the turn of the last century. 

Today the area is home to naval Magazine Indian Island, the US Navy’s primary munitions handling dock on the Pacific coast.

The economy is also fueled by the influx of many retirees who moved to the area in the 1970s and 80s.

Beautiful Boats

Port Hudson in Port Townsend is well known in the Pacific Northwest as a center for the construction and preservation of wooden boats. Very much attended is the annual gathering of antique boats.

There is still a large maritime center for independent boat workers and related industries and crafts. The Northwest Maritime Center has a wooden boat shop quite active in the restoration of boats that is open to observers. 

Wonderful Victorian Houses

The striking feature of Port Townsend is that most of the buildings and homes are very well-preserved. The downtown has shops, restaurants, and art galleries. Most of the homes are on the upper bluff overlooking downtown.

The Town of Port Townsend

The Haller Fountain, or Galatea,  is a lovely bronze casting which is said to portray Venus.  It was installed by the City of Port Townsend in 1906 and was restored  and replaced in 1993. It is located at the bottom of the Taylor street stairs. 

The Jefferson County Courthouse is Romanesque architectural style and houses a 125 foot bell tower.  

The bell tower on the bluff above downtown is one of two known towers of this type in the United States.  It was used from 1890 to the 1940s to call volunteer firefighters and was restored in 2003.

The ‘Carpenter Gothic’ style (pointed arch windows, steeply pitched roofs, and front facing gables with delicate wood trim called barge boards) St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is the oldest church in Port Townsend and is located on the upper bluff of the town.   It houses a bell which was donated by a ship captain with the agreement that the bell be rung during bad weather.  Today, it is rung every Sunday. 

Tommy Knockers Cornish Pasty was our favorite restaurant because they hand make pasties, or meat pies, which was a family tradition in Jan’s family.