History of Port Townsend
Port Townsend is a town that lives in the past and present. The early town leaders had hopes of creating Port Townsend to be the premier city in Western Washington. But when the railroad chose Seattle over Port Townsend their dreams ended. Today Port Townsend has as many long past resident’s still being heard and seen as it does it living residents. Maybe they are still waiting for the railroad or just don’t want to leave. Whatever the reason, their presence can still be felt everywhere.
On May 2, 1792, Discovery and Chatham entered a well-protected natural harbor toward the east end of the Strait, which Vancouver named Port Discovery for his ship
Leaving much of the crew with the anchored ships, Vancouver set out on May 7, 1792, with a party in three small boats to explore the surrounding area. They rounded the Quimper Peninsula, the neck of land jutting off the Olympic Peninsula that separates Port Discovery from the harbor of Port Townsend, and camped that night on a swampy spit of land, which Vancouver named Point Hudson, at the entrance to Port Townsend harbor.
May 8, 1792, Vancouver wrote in his log "To this port I gave the name of Port Townshend, in honor of the noble Marquis" George Townsend, the marquis Vancouver honored, was a British general.
The United States Exploring Expedition of 1841, led by Lt. Charles Wilkes, charted the bay as Port Townsend.
The first Americans settled on the bay in 1851. In October of that year, Alfred A. Plummer, Charles Bachelder, Loren B. Hastings, and Francis W. Pettygrove met in the cabin Plummer and Bachelder had erected on the beach below Point Hudson and agreed to establish a town on the site. They named the proposed town "after the bay on which it was situated, Port Townsend". Port Townsend soon became the site of the U.S. Customs port of entry, the county seat of newly formed Jefferson County, and one of the leading settlements in Washington Territory.
PIHA, Paranormal Investigations of Historic America (www.pihausa.com ), was created specifically for paranormal investigations of public historic sites and museums that have a history of paranormal activity. PIHA is in the process of creating a series of DVD's that feature the museums, public historical sites and communities in Washington State. There are three regions in Washington State that will be featured. The first region is "Western Washington", the second is "The Olympic Peninsula" and the third region is "Eastern Washington".
PIHA is made up of a small group of experienced, dedicated paranormal investigators who have a passion for history and an interest in the phenomena of the possible existence of paranormal activity. Our approach, equipment and procedures for paranormal investigating is primarily based on the use of technologically advanced electronic equipment and scientific logic in obtaining evidence of possible paranormal activity.
On behalf of the volunteer paranormal investigators of PIHA, I invite you to experience Washington State's amazing historical sites and museums like never before. Through our process of networking with local historical societies, museums and registered, public historical sites, PIHA hopes to encourage public interest in Washington State's exciting history and the process and technology utilized in scientific paranormal investigations.
PIHA was created with two goals in mind:
1. PIHA hopes to bring Washington State’s history to life by attempting to obtain significant evidence of these strange occurrences. Utilizing the latest in today's electronic technology and dedicated paranormal investigators, we are accomplishing this objective, one public historical site at a time.
2. PIHA wants to stimulate additional interest in residents and visitors to Washington State's fascinating history. Our goal is to encourage individuals, families, schools and community organizations to visit these (and other) historical locations for a better understanding of our state's history and the people who made it and maybe have a personal paranormal experience along he way!
PIHA is not out to prove or disprove the existence of possible paranormal activity, but to publish any significant evidence collected at an investigation. Many people who think that something paranormal exist, physics and logic can debunk. That said, occasionally PIHA obtains evidence that neither physics nor logic applies. When this occurs, we classify it as paranormal evidence and let each individual decide for himself what to believe or not believe.
Wherever your travels in Washington take you, best wishes for a "Trip to the Extraordinary".
