Historical Article
Boosterism piece—Port Townsend, Washington.
Published by the Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce in The North American Review Advertiser, New York, 1891. pp. 17-18.
Book a walking tour of Port Townsend
PORT TOWNSEND, WASH
HAVE YOU READ THIS?
IF NOT, DO SO, AND SEE WHAT PORT TOWNSEND, WASH., OFFERS TO THE CAPITALIST, MANUFACTURER, FARMER, ARTISAN, LABORER, HOMESEEKER OR INVALID
THE PORT OF ENTRY.
Port Townsend, the only port of entry in northwestern Washington, is situated on the northern and eastern end of Quimper Peninsula, and bounded on the east by Admiralty Inlet and Port Townsend Bay, on the west by Discovery Bay, and on the north by the Straits of Juan de Fuca, thus being surrounded by water on three sides, giving it advantages as a shipping point not to be found elsewhere on the Pacific coast. Port Townsend, situated as it is, at the gateway of Puget Sound and the key to all interior waters, is the point where railroad and ocean commerce must meet.
Port Townsend has the only harbor that ships can enter and anchor with safety, the depth of water being sufficient and not excessive, ninety feet being the maximum, and thirty feet the minimum, a medium not to be found at any other point on Puget Sound.
Port Townsend has the only harbor that ships can enter and anchor with safety, the depth of water being sufficient and not excessive, ninety feet being the maximum, and thirty feet the minimum, a medium not to be found at any other point on Puget Sound.
RAILROADS
It is now definitely settled that the Canadian Pacific and the Great Northern intend making Port Townsend their terminus, with Admiralty Head on Whidbey Island their depot; this will be an outlet to the north and east by these two powerful lines, while the Union and Northern Pacific will furnish an outlet to the south and east via the Port Townsend Southern, to a connection with these two transcontinental systems, thus giving Port Townsend railroad advantages that cannot be equalled by any city on the Pacific coast. This considered, with her unsurpassed harbor facilities and beautifully located city, gives assurance of Port Townsend being in the immediate future the great metropolis of the Northwest.
THE TERMINAL CITY.
Port Townsend must eventually become the principle terminus of all transcontinental railroads in the Northwest, as well as the terminus of all trans-Pacific steam and sail lines. It requires no argument to convince the most sceptical of these facts, as a glance at a U.S. government chart of this State will readily demonstrate this to be unquestionable.
MANUFACTURIES.
Port Townsend has more and better available sites for manufacturing than any point on Puget Sound, for the following reasons:
1st. Material of all kinds is at hand. 2d. The formation of the land along the bay shore is such that no expensive wharves would have to be built to reach deep water. 3d. Water power with almost unlimited force can be had if desired. 4th. To those who desire steam power, fuel is cheap and plentiful. 6th. Transportation both by land and sea is more convenient than can be found at any other point in Washington. 7th. The exhilerating climate will cause an artisan or laborer to give greater returns for his wages, owing to there being more days in which he can work and do harder work with less constitutional injury than at any point in the State.
Port Townsend has in daily operation saw mills, sash, door, and blind manufacturies, machine shops and foundries, ice works, blast furnaces, boiler shops, drydocks, marine railways, shipyards, brick works, terracotta works, cornice works, fish-preserving works...
Among the branches of manufactories that would pay large dividends if established here are steel and iron works, rolling mills, stove and plough factory, flouring mills, soap factory, boot and shoe factory, nail factory, iron shipbuilding, woollen mill and paper mill, all of which would be granted sites gratis.
1st. Material of all kinds is at hand. 2d. The formation of the land along the bay shore is such that no expensive wharves would have to be built to reach deep water. 3d. Water power with almost unlimited force can be had if desired. 4th. To those who desire steam power, fuel is cheap and plentiful. 6th. Transportation both by land and sea is more convenient than can be found at any other point in Washington. 7th. The exhilerating climate will cause an artisan or laborer to give greater returns for his wages, owing to there being more days in which he can work and do harder work with less constitutional injury than at any point in the State.
Port Townsend has in daily operation saw mills, sash, door, and blind manufacturies, machine shops and foundries, ice works, blast furnaces, boiler shops, drydocks, marine railways, shipyards, brick works, terracotta works, cornice works, fish-preserving works...
Among the branches of manufactories that would pay large dividends if established here are steel and iron works, rolling mills, stove and plough factory, flouring mills, soap factory, boot and shoe factory, nail factory, iron shipbuilding, woollen mill and paper mill, all of which would be granted sites gratis.
AGRICULTURE.
Port Townsend has tributary to her some of the finest and most productive agricultural land in the State; this land has grown 2,200 pounds of hops, 133 bushels of oats, 84 bushels of wheat, 4 tons of hay, and 665 bushels of potatoes to the acre, respectively. Vegetables are a wonder, growing as they do to such prodigous proportions, and at the same time possessing the highest degree of flavor and excellence. All of the adjoining lands are perfect marvels in fruit growing, producing enormous yields of the most delicious qualities. Verdure is perennial, and pasturage is always abundant and unexcelled.
FISHING INDUSTRIES.
Port Townsend has a growing industry in the fish trade, that will eventually eclipse any similar industry in the United States. The abundance of cod, halibut, salmon, sardines, and herring, that are easily taken, together with the whale-fishing, promises for Port Townsend the largest fishing business on the American continent.
ADVANTAGES TO COMMERCE.
Port Townsend is not hampered with exorbitant charges on commerce; there is no compulsory pilotage or excessive towboat charges, as obligatory in most other places. Ships can enter this port without the aid of either. An idea of the prominence that Port Townsend holds to-day can be judged from the entrances and clearances during the year 1890, which amount to 2,394,172 tons.
CLIMATE.
Port Townsend has a lower death rate than any city on the Pacific Coast.
Port Townsend has a more uniform climate than any place in the State of Washington, the annual rainfall for the last ten years being only 17.4 inches, the greatest in any one month being 4.2 inches. The minimum temperature 10 degrees above and the maximum 84 degrees above, the usual summer temperature being 65 degrees above, with almost constant blue sky, making a beautiful contrast with the luxuriant green forming the carpet below.
The matchless climate with which Port Townsend is favored renders this locality the most desirable of any point in the State of Washington. And, indeed, is a man to be congratulated who is fortunate enough to secure a foothold in this most prosperous city.
For information, printed matter, etc., etc., address
PORT TOWNSEND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
PORT TOWNSEND, Wash.
Port Townsend has a more uniform climate than any place in the State of Washington, the annual rainfall for the last ten years being only 17.4 inches, the greatest in any one month being 4.2 inches. The minimum temperature 10 degrees above and the maximum 84 degrees above, the usual summer temperature being 65 degrees above, with almost constant blue sky, making a beautiful contrast with the luxuriant green forming the carpet below.
The matchless climate with which Port Townsend is favored renders this locality the most desirable of any point in the State of Washington. And, indeed, is a man to be congratulated who is fortunate enough to secure a foothold in this most prosperous city.
For information, printed matter, etc., etc., address
PORT TOWNSEND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
PORT TOWNSEND, Wash.
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There's more information about Port Townsend's history in Sarah's non-fiction book, This Victorian Life, and Port Townsend served as the inspiration for the town of Chetzemoka in her historical fiction series, The Tales of Chetzemoka.
Happy reading!!
This Victorian Life
In a seaport town in the late 19th-century Pacific Northwest, a group of friends find themselves drawn together —by chance, by love, and by the marvelous changes their world is undergoing. In the process, they learn that the family we choose can be just as important as the ones we're born into. Join their adventures in
The Tales of Chetzemoka
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