Port Hadlock - Washington Ghost Town

PORT HADLOCK

NAME: Port Hadlock
COUNTY: Jefferson
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 6
CLIMATE: Cool winter and summer.
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime.

COMMENTS: Had 700 people at one time. Semi-ghost.
REMAINS: Many original buildings.

Born in 1829 in New Hampshire, Samuel Hadlock, for whom Port Hadlock is named, came west on a wagon train to the Dalles, Oregon, in September, 1852. In 1868, he and five others built the Tacoma Mill in Washington. In 1870, Hadlock sold his interest in the mill and purchased the present site of Port Hadlock, 362 acres of prime land and a good port, and platted the area. He began to develop his new town and other properties that included a profitable gravel pit between Hadlock and Port Townsend. Hadlock's business interests prospered, lumber mill, gravel works, and real estate. The town expanded on the flats and up the bluffs. The lumber mill was the largest single mill in existence at the time, turning out an average of 150,000 board feet of lumber a day. The mill employed several hundred men and the town number around 700 in its heyday. Today, there is a marina and a first-class hotel/resort at the site of the old alcohol plant. The remaining relics of the past are the Ajax Café in the former Galster House, former dwelling of Samuel Hadlock, which is well preserved. Submitted by Henry Chenowith.

Born in 1829 in New Hampshire, Samuel Hadlock, for whom Port Hadlock is named, came west on a wagon train to the Dalles, Oregon, in September, 1852. In 1868, he and five others built the Tacoma Mill in Washington. In 1870, Hadlock sold his interest in the mill and purchased the present site of Port Hadlock, 362 acres of prime land and a good port, and platted the area. He began to develop his new town and other properties that included a profitable gravel pit between Hadlock and Port Townsend. Hadlock's business interests prospered, lumber mill, gravel works, and real estate. The town expanded on the flats and up the bluffs. The lumber mill was the largest single mill in existence at the time, turning out an average of 150,000 board feet of lumber a day. The mill employed several hundred men and the town number around 700 in its heyday. Today, there is a marina and a first-class hotel/resort at the site of the old alcohol plant. The remaining relics of the past are the Ajax Café in the former Galster House, former dwelling of Samuel Hadlock, which is well preserved. Submitted by Henry Chenowith.

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