THE
WEST SHORE.
Fifteenth Year.
APRIL, 1889.
Ntxi.rn 1.
THE KEY CITY OP TOE BOUND.
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m''v),:ii";jiii.'.iL OINING the strait of Juan
de Faca from the south,
about ninety miles from
the ocean, is Admiralty
inlet, the principal arm of
Paget sound. In the an
gle at the janction of the
two bodies of water is a
peninsula formed by Port
Discovery bay, which in
dents the southern shore
of the strait, and Port
Townsend bay, which is a
northwestern arm of the
inlet and joins it some two
miles southward of the union of the sound and strait.
This inlet is the passage through which all marine
commerce of the vast Paget sound region mait pass.
The division of land thos enclosed is known as (uim
per peninsula, and is from two to five miles wide, ex
tending in a general northern direction, thoogh the
northern end bends around to the east so as to par
tially enclose Port Townsend bay, while the mouth of
Port Discovery bay, on the opposite side, is left open.
The extreme northeast of the peninsula is known as
Point Wilson, and about two miles to the southward,
with Port Townsend bay on the south and the sound
on the east, is Point Hudson.
At Point Hudson, in 1830, Alfred A- Flummer lo
cated a claim, including the flat where the principal
business portion of the city of Port Towiend is now
situated, and extending back a short distance on the
Wnff. Mr. Plummer was followed the text year by
Loren B. Hastings, and Francis W. Pettjgrove, who
were among the first settlers of Portland, and they
took up claims next back cf Mr. Plammer'., each
however, having a portion of the present water front
of the town. They tilled small portions of their
claims, fished a little, and traded with the Indies,
the chief business being trading. Gradually attuen
were attracted to that locality, and in 1S53 tho town
of Port Townsend was platted. As tho settlement
increased in lire, tho Indians, from some cause, be
came unfriendly, and on account of tho Indian troa
blcs in tho northwest in 1H.V tho government estab
lished Fort Townsend, on the coast some four miles
to tho westward of tho town, in 1H.V4, which, except
for a short interval during tho civil war, has since
been kept garrisoned.
From the beginning to tho present time Port
Townsend has enjoyed a steady and prosfwoua growth.
Tho wisdom of its founders in choosing a site at the
gateway to tho rich empire bordering on Paget sound
is readily apparent It occupies a commanding iU
tion with reference to trade, and tho steadiness of its
growth may, in a great degree, le attributed to the
favorable geographical jwitton which it occupies. It
is one of the finest harbors in the worll Port Town,
seed bay has an anchorage area of about fifty square
miUf, in which the water is from three to eleven
fathoms in depth. Vessels from tho ocean bound to
any one of tho sound jiorU sail in as far as Port Town,
send, and a navigator unaojusinted with the grounds
may sail with infect freedom in any part of the bay,
so long as ho keeja two vt !' length out from tho
shore. The harUjr is a complete refuge from all
itorms. Vesuls are towed from that point to all
porta on the sound to which they may U bound.
The city of Port Towniend, principally built to
tho westward of Point lUdsoo, faces the southeast.
At the jioint the low land extent's back half a dozen
blocks or more, but the Ut grows rapidly narrower to
westward, until tho bluff cooks out fluh to the water's
edge, and even the street neareat the bay cats through
tho high clay bank. I n the businm part of the town
tho streets extendieg lk from tho bay are Inter,
rupted by tho bluff about three blocks from the wa
ter, but tboae running Jrallel with the shore aend
to tho heights by easy grade. On the hill tho land
is not a dead level by any tseau. It Is rolling enough