A Company Town? Still Functioning in 2005?

I thought that company towns went the way of the buggy whip. Perhaps there are some still in existence, but at least I’ve visited one—Port Gamble, WA. The tiny town of 85 people sits along the Hood Canal. Its history dates back to 1853 when William Talbot, Josiah Keller and Andrew Pope modeled the community after their hometown of East Machias, ME for the new timber mill they built.

The town’s heyday was in the 1920s when the mill employed 250. When it shut its doors in 1995, it had the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating sawmill in the USA. It fell victim to the spotted owl and environmentalist attacks, which resulted in over 200 mills closing in the NW during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Today Port Gamble is making a comeback of sorts. It hosts 25 entrepreneurs today compared to only 9 in 2001, operating small businesses out of their storefronts while living upstairs, just like in the old days. All buildings are leased from Pope Resources which has spent several million dollars on refurbishing the town and cleaning up the old mill site. Their hope is to develop up to 4,000 acres of timber land that they own nearby.

One attraction in the town is the historic St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, which has become a popular venue for weddings. Last year they hosted 32 weddings and I’ve got to think that Pope Resources has to be the only timber company that has its own wedding coordinator.