Port Blakeley - Hall Brothers' Shipyard - 1900

Port Blakely is a community of

Bainbridge Island, Washington Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

in the western United States. It is located on the east side of the island, slightly to the south. The center of Port Blakely is generally defined as the intersection of Blakely Hill Road and Blakely Avenue NE, although the wider area is generally also known as Port Blakely. The community's name was at one time spelled as Port Blakeley.

Hall Brothers Shipyard and Port Blakely Mill

Port Blakely was named in 1841 by the

Wilkes Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

for the American naval officer Johnston Blakely. In 1863, William Renton began operating a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

at Port Blakeley. In 1880, brothers Isaac, Winslow and Henry Knox Hall moved their shipyard from

Port Ludlow, Washington Port Ludlow is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. It is also the name of the marine inlet on which the community is located. The CDP's population was 2,603 at the 2010 ce ...

to a site near the Port Blakely Lumber Mill. At one point, this mill was "the world's largest sawmill under one roof." The lumber mills and shipyard of Port Blakely were adjoined by extensive living quarters and public amenities for mill workers and their families. "The first true five-masted schooner built on the West Coast was the

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

, built at Port Blakely in 1896." H.K. Hall a 1,237-ton five-masted schooner, was launched here in 1902. "Between 1881 and 1904, the ''Hall Brothers'' launched 77 vessels of every size and rig, including barks,

barkentine A barquentine or schooner barque (alternatively "barkentine" or "schooner bark") is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. Modern barquentine sailing r ...

s, three-, four-, and five-masted

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

s, steamers, a tug, a government revenue cutter and several

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

s. Hall Brothers was largely responsible for building most of the schooners for the Pacific Coast lumber trade." The

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

was moved to

Winslow Winslow may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Winslow, Buckinghamshire, England, a market town and civil parish * Winslow Rural District, Buckinghamshire, a rural district from 1894 to 1974 United States and Canada * Rural Municipality of Winslo ...

in 1903.

Associated media

Port Blakely was featured in the documentary Port Blakely: Memories of a Mill Town by film maker Lucy Ostrander and her husband Don Sellers.

Notes

External links

Hall Brothers Shipyards, the Port Blakely Years

Port Blakely Mill
Islandwood School

Port Blakely Companies
Captain William Renton (1818-1891)
founder of Port Blakely Mill

Communities of Bainbridge Island, Washington Shipyards of the United States Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States Industrial buildings and structures in Washington (state) Shipbuilding in Washington (state) {{KitsapCountyWA-geo-stub

Hall Brothers Shipyard and Port Blakely Mill

Associated media

See also

Notes

External links