Jefferson County

by Jefferson County Historical Society

Overview

Founded by optimistic speculators with dreams of commercial empires that never materialized, Jefferson County is located on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. It stretches from spectacular Pacific Ocean beaches on the west and the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the north to the forested banks of the Hood Canal on the east. Created by the Oregon territorial legislature in 1852 and redefined by the Washington Territorial Legislature in 1877, it was named for Pres. Thomas Jefferson. Scenic Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest occupy 60 percent of the county, and important industries in the region have included logging, pulp and paper, fishing, dairy farming, boatbuilding, and other marine-related businesses. Today the county has been discovered by artists, writers, poets, retirees, and tourists drawn to its unmatched scenery, mild weather, outstanding recreational opportunities, and the absence of urban stress.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738548562
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	08/30/2006
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,069,464
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

The Jefferson County Historical Society (JCHS) was founded in 1879 and incorporated in 1951 with a mission "to actively discover, collect, preserve, and promote the heritage of Jefferson County in the State of Washington." The society conducts county-wide programs and operates the Jefferson County Historical Museum, the Rothschild House Museum, and the JCHS Research Center. The images selected for this volume come from the society's remarkable collection of over 20,000 historic photographs.

Editorial Reviews

Title: Jefferson County Historical Society unveils theater, honors preservers of history Author: Staff Writer Publisher: Peninsula Daily News Date: 4/25/2010 The memory keepers of Jefferson County were center stage during the 2010 Historic Preservation Awards given by the historical society. "Traditionally, we have given the awards to people who have restored a building," said Bill Tennant, Jefferson County Historical Society executive director. Recorders of history "But this year, we focused on those who were recording the history because if the stories are never recorded, they are never preserved for the future." The pinnacle of Founders' Day on Sunday was the screening of a film, "We Came with Dreams," which gives a taste of what the museum and new gallery have to offer. The new gallery, which is in a 10-by-12-foot room, features a 53-inch television for viewing the video. The room's walls contain several historical photographs along with six frames that display a rotating selection of digital images from the museum's collection. Film focuses on motivations The film is divided into four sections, focusing on the four motivations that brought settlers to the area: harvesting crops, building an empire, developing community and achieving freedom. "The film was wonderful — it exceeded what we all thought it would," Tennant said. "There were strong, bearded men who were crying." The film is meant to give viewers people an overview of Jefferson County, so it does not go into deep detail. "It really does a great job showing everything from the Olympic Mountains to the coast to the Hood Canal region to Port Townsend," Tennant said. "We have kind of joked that maybe we shouldn't show this to very many people because they will all want to move here now." The film was made using accounts of those who have been recording the history of Jefferson County. Construction of the new room and a design plan for future museum renovations were funded by a $200,000 grant from the Washington State Heritage Project. The award winners were: Tom Camfield — For ongoing documentation of local history including authoring the books Port Townsend: An illustrated History of Shanghaiing, Shipwrecks, Soiled Doves and Sundry Souls in 2000 and Port Townsend: The City That Whiskey Built in 2002. His promotion of history through his blog on the Port Townsend Leader Web site also was honored. Pam Clise — For ongoing documentation of local history through the thorough researching and writing of historical newspaper stories and for helping county schools to afford museum field trips. Her historical columns appear on the last Thursday of the month in the Jefferson County edition of the Peninsula Daily News. Marsha Moratti — For her work as an archivist for the Jefferson County Historical Society and overseeing the publication of three books in the Arcadia Publishing Images of America Series: Jefferson County in 2006, Port Townsend in 2008 and Olympic Mountains in 2010. Marjorie Rogers — For recording Jefferson County history through the collection of oral histories. She has worked with the oral history program since its inception, and has collected and transcribed more than 50 volumes of histories focusing on occupational history. Marge Samue lson — For promoting local history through new technology with an weekly history blog on the Port Townsend Leader Web site and for inputting thousands of historical documents and images into the society's database.

From the Publisher