INDEPENDENCE CHRONICLES

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Port Angeles, WA to Port Townsend, WA

I am very happy to not have much to write about regarding our transit from Port Angeles to Port Townsend. We fueled up at the Marina, as the price of diesel was too good to pass. The morning departure was foggy but uneventful and we slid into our side-tie at the Port Townsend Boat Haven before noon (31NM). My searches online tell me that Port Townsend was founded in 1851 by European settlers and incorporated as a city in 1860. The city grew rapidly with shipping and commerce and as the Customs Port of Entry for Puget Sound. The early Native Americans were the Klallam Tribe that fished, hunted, foraged and traded here. The Klallam called the area Kah Tai but the British Captain George Vancouver named the area Port Townsend in 1792 and most of the indigenous persons were vanquished by the incoming human diseases they brought with them. The 1850’s was a time of great timber harvesting and subsequent shipping to San Francisco. Besides logging, there was agriculture and businesses that sprang up catering to the ‘maritime trade’…and yes…saloons and bordellos, but also Chandleries (ship part suppliers, think West Marine) and hotels. In the early 1900’s the military placed a defense here to prevent ‘a hostile fleet from reaching such targets as the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett’. The forts never fired a hostile shot and most of the guns were removed during World War 1 for use in Europe. As the years moved on this town, like most we visit, have transitioned to tourism as their major economy.

Point Dungeness Light midway on our transit to Port Townsend has been in continuous operation since 1857. The second lighthouse established in the Washington territory.

Point Wilson Lighthouse (1879) is still an active aid to navigation. Located in Fort Worden State Park not far from the to Port Townsend Marina.

The busy Port Townsend ferry to Seattle and points between

The scene stealing Jefferson County Courthouse in Port Townsend, commands your attention as you enter the harbor.

Beginning to see/feel the effect of the northern tidal influences as we enter the marina in Port Townsend. A daily tide differential of eight feet is the norm here.

Docked. The happy Captain and crew get to enjoy a little break of good weather in Port Townsend

If you don’t know already, the Captain and crew like beer. Luckily, so does Port Townsend. A sampling of pics from The Pourhouse and Sirens Restaurant.

Our marina has some lovely sail boats. This sunny yellow hull is perfect for today’s weather.

The Hawaiian Chieftain is seen going out for an Opening Day blessing

Just couldn’t leave with out sampling the beer at Port Townsend Brewing Co. ….

…or for that matter, a very different brewery but shockingly good. Propolis Brewing (est. 2012) which offers seasonal botanical farmhouse ales (brewed with wild-crafted herbs and forest ingredients) that are very unusual but very tasty. My favorite being the long stemmed Montem.

Loving the art from the Blackfish Tour boat. The stylized Orca with Orcas Island at the center.

This sculptures is of a Dungeness Crab’s first larval stage called a Zoea

Just a little flavor of this port town

The Hastings Building completed in 1890. The large cast iron columns at street level were from the Port Townsend Foundry (est. 1883). Doctors & lawyers filled the upper offices, while the realtors office was at street level along with Max Gerson Dry Goods purveyor of Cigars, Tobacco, Confectionary and Smokers Articles. The building is now undergoing a renovation where the final stage will rebuild the missing cupola.

The Jefferson County Courthouse was built in 1892. The sandstone was quarried in Alaska and the red colored bricks were shipped from St. Louis. Both the bell and the clock mechanism in the 124-foot tower were built in 1891 by the E. Howard Watch & Clock Company of Boston, MA. The clock operates by 250-pound weights which drop slowly from the tower to the basement, enclosed in a cedar shaft.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church built in 1865

The Bell Tower built in 1890, was used to call volunteer firefighters to their posts.

Charming houses along the bluff edge of town. Many appear to now be Bed and Breakfast establishments.

Sunset after a rainy day. We depart tomorrow for Seattle.