We drove up to Port Townsend from Hansville today— about an hour’s drive.
Port Townsend (pop. 10,148) is a city on the Quimper Peninsula (on the greater Olympic Peninsula) in Jefferson County. [From Wikipedia]The view this morning from Hansville on the Kitsap Peninsula across Hood Canal at low tide. Across the canal is the Olympic Peninsula, with the Olympic mountains in the distance.Crossing the Hood Canal Floating Bridge (constructed in 1961) to get to the Olympic Peninsula.A quick stop at the Chimacum Corner farmstand and nursery, on the way to Port Townsend. These are Sunny Days Ruby Echinacea, basking in the sun.We stopped by Saturday’s farmer’s market in Port Townsend.This little marina is by Sea J’s Cafe just south of Port Townsend’s downtown.This is the beach at Point Hudson, with Whidbey Island in the distance.The pebble and stone beach at Point Hudson also features a few uprooted trees and driftwood.For thousands of years before the settlers came to Port Townsend, the S’Klallam (“strong”) people lived in villages along the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula.These little wildflowers by Point Hudson are mallows (Malva sylvestris).The Mount Baker Building in downtown Port Townsend was built in 1889 and renovated in 1999. It was sold in 2020 for $6.8 million. At the time of its construction, negotiations were underway for the railroad to link Port Townsend to the rest of the country. Real estate price skyrocketed, the population of the town doubled, and Port Townsend dubbed itself “The Inevitable New York.” The railroad never arrived and the boom went bust. As a result, Port Townsend was left with many spectacular buildings and residences, some of which were never finished.The James & Hastings Building with its carved stone trimmings from the Victorian era was built in 1889, and restored in the 1990s and early 2002. It is at the corner of Tyler Street and Water Street.The ornate N.D. Hill Building (constructed 1889) at 635 Water Street was designed by noted Seattle architect Elmer H. Fisher. It is principally Italianate in design, but also shows Grecian and Romanesque influences.Here is the elegant four-story Hastings Building at 839 Water Street— built in the Victorian style, and completed in 1890.
