Port Townsend [Paperback]

On Washington???s Olympic Peninsula, at the entrance to Puget Sound, the Port Townsend of the 1850s was perfectly situated for sailing vessels. By 1880, thousands of ships from all over the world were passing through. Optimistic investors sought fortunes in shipping, logging, lumber mills, and land speculation. While commerce flourished at sea level, citizens built fine homes, churches, schools, clubs, a respectable shopping district, and parks uptown on the bluff. The settlers of this lovely seaport enjoyed rich cultural and social lives. Port Townsend went bust after the anticipated railroad failed to arrive. It remained largely frozen in time without economic motivation to tear down and replace its fine Victorian architecture. It wasn???t until the 1970s that the beautiful setting and buildings were discovered by artists, hippies, preservationists, and, later, tourists and retirees. The town is now a thriving arts and cultural community, still beautiful, still small and remote.Title: Jefferson County Historical Society unveils theater, honors preservers of history Author: Staff Writer Publisher: Peninsula Daily News Date: 4/25/2010 The memory keepers of Jefferson County were center stage during the 2010 Historic Preservation Awards given by the historical society. Traditionally, we have given the awards to people who have restored a building, said Bill Tennant, Jefferson County Historical Society executive director. Recorders of history But this year, we focused on those who were recording the history because if the stories are never recorded, they are never preserved for the future. The pinnacle of Founders' Day on Sunday was the screening of a film, We Came with Dreams, which gives a taste of what the museum and new gallery have to offer. The new gallery, which is in a 10-by-12-foot room, features a 53-inch television for viewing the video. The room's walls contain several historical photographs along with six frames that display a rotating selection of dlÃ: