Things to do nearPort Gamble

Port Gamble was founded in 1853 as a company mill town by Pope and Talbot, a Maine-based lumber enterprise. The founders modeled the settlement after their home town of East Machias, Maine, giving the streets a distinctly New England character rare in the Pacific Northwest.

The town's Victorian architecture has been carefully maintained over generations. Walking its shaded lanes, you pass the St. Paul's Episcopal Church, one of the oldest churches in Washington, and the historic cemetery, which holds graves dating to the mid-nineteenth century.

The Port Gamble Historic Museum, housed in the old general store building, traces the lumber era through photographs, artifacts, and maritime objects. The museum also holds a noted seashell collection that draws natural history enthusiasts from across the region.

The surrounding landscape adds its own rewards. Trails wind through second-growth forest down to the waterline, where views open across Hood Canal toward the snow-capped Olympic range. Port Gamble is a rare place where authentic history and natural beauty occupy the same quiet corner of the Kitsap Peninsula.