Port Townsend, Washington
2013.09.06
In 1792, Captain George Vancouver named a bay after his friend the Marquis of Townshend. In 1851, Alfred Plummer and Charles Bachelder sailed up from San Francisco, filed land claims, and began building a cabin. They were soon joined by Loren Hastings and Francis Pettygrove from Portland, Oregon, and the four men agreed to plat the town of Port Townsend, the second settlement in Puget Sound (after Olympia). Pettygrove (along with Asa Lovejoy) had co-founded Portland but now moved his family to Port Townsend. They had dreams of turning the new town into a major West Coast port city to rival San Francisco. The Panic of 1873 and subsequent periods of depression into the 1890’s stopped the railroads at Seattle and Tacoma, and Port Townsend lost the race. The old parts of town have remained almost a time capsule of a Victorian-era seaport, with the main commercial district along Water Street, and the rest of town perched on a bluff.
Jefferson County Courthouse
The Jefferson County Courthouse, designed by Seattle architect W.A. Ritchie in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, stands near the southwest end of the bluff. The 125-foot bell tower is a landmark to visitors approaching on WA-20. The bricks came from St. Louis, Missouri, the sandstone from Alaska, and the bell and clockworks from Boston, Massachusetts. It was completed in 1892 at a cost of $150,000.
Local residents have a love–hate relationship with the Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), commonly seen around town. On a residential street near the courthouse, we stopped for a doe and fawn calmly crossing the street and grazing in people’s lawns. Later on our way out of town in the twilight, the car in front of us nearly hit a buck crossing the highway.
Fire Bell Tower and St. Paul's Episcopal Church
The 1865 St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is the oldest church building in Port Townsend. It was moved to its present location in the 1880’s. The style is considered Carpenter Gothic or Rural Gothic, a subset of Gothic Revival.
Across the street, the 75-foot Fire Bell Tower was erected in 1890, with a 1,500-pound brass bell and a small garage at the base for the city’s fire engine. The bell alerted volunteer firefighters until the 1940’s. It is one of only two such towers still known to exist in the United States. The location at the edge of the bluff offers a sweeping vista to Port Townsend Bay.
Fort Worden