Port Townsend

Port Townsend experienced a frenzied building boom in the 1880s when land speculators expected it to become the western terminus of the transcontinental railroad. The railroad went to Seattle instead, and the town essentially froze leaving behind a nearly intact Victorian commercial district and residential neighborhood that now attract artists, writers, and travelers seeking a slower pace. Water Street downtown is lined with 1880s brick commercial buildings housing art galleries, woodworkers' studios, bookshops, and restaurants. Uptown, the residential bluffs contain some of the finest Queen Anne and Italianate Victorian homes in the Pacific Northwest, many now operating as bed and breakfasts. Fort Worden State Park at the northern tip of the peninsula was built in 1902 as part of the "triangle of fire" artillery defenses for Puget Sound; it was the filming location for the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman and now operates as a cultural campus with a Marine Science Center, concert venue, and historic officer's quarters available for group lodging. The Jefferson Museum of Art and History preserves the town's boom-era artifacts. Washington State Ferries connect Port Townsend to Coupeville on Whidbey Island in 30 minutes.