Stewarding the History of the Olympic Peninsula

NEH funding helped the Jefferson County Historical Society restore Port Townsend City Hall. Image courtesy of the Jefferson County Historical Society.

Since 1879, the Jefferson County Historical Society has preserved historic sites and artifacts on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, including the historic city of Port Townsend. In addition to running several historic sites, the society holds a sizable collection of historic documents and artifacts, including more than 50,000 photographs. And with an NEH challenge grant that helped it raise an additional $600,000, the society renovated and restored one of the area’s most historic buildings.

The Port Townsend City Hall was built in 1892 and remained in use throughout the following century. Still, decades of economic decline took its toll on the building. By the early 2000s, the City Hall was in extreme disrepair and the historical society was the only organization remaining in the building. In 2006, NEH funding helped make a total renovation to the City Hall possible. In addition to stabilizing the building, which is located in an earthquake zone, the society upgraded electrical and mechanical systems. As well as renovating the interior of the building for use by the society and the public, the building’s historic exterior has been restored.

Today, the Port Townsend City Hall houses an art and history museum that interprets the region’s heritage and provides space for humanities programming, such as lectures, classes, and workshops. Much of this programming has been supported by Humanities Washington, the state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, through its Speakers Bureau program.