If you haven’t been here in person, you may have visited in your dreams. Nestled on the northeast corner of Washington’s gorgeous Olympic Peninsula, Port Townsend is a vision of natural beauty, causing its earliest promoters to call this the “City of Dreams.” Today, artists, historians and lovers of marine life are drawn here – to one of the finest examples of a Victorian seaport in the United States.Founded six months before Seattle in 1851, as an outpost to guard the entrance to the sound, this bustling seaport saw 1,000 ships pass through its harbor each year by the late 1800s. Prosperity stimulated the construction of lovely Victorian commercial buildings and homes, and many of them can be seen today. Forty-two properties are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and the Uptown and Downtown Districts are designated as National Landmark Historic Districts.
This Victorian Seaport is a walkable, bikeable, hikeable, kayakable town where you can watch eagles, whales and sea otters; take historic walking tours; and visit Fort Worden State Park, with its working lighthouse, pristine wetlands and miles of sandy beaches. Imaginative year-round special events offer world-renowned music, film and literary festivals, a kinetic sculpture race and, every September, the largest wooden boat festival in the U.S. Whether you choose to sail or sketch, cycle or shop, you’ll find the Victorian Age echoing throughout this town’s many lovely buildings and reflecting off the Olympic Mountains and the Port Townsend Bay.
Have you visited Port Townsend? If so, share your reviews and photos on Gozaic.
Photo: Point Wilson Lighthouse painter, courtesy of Centrum.
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