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What to See in Port Townsend - Top Sights and Attractions

Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Port Townsend (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum, Fort Worden, and St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Also, be sure to include United States Post Office – Port Townsend Main in your itinerary.

Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Port Townsend (Washington).

Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum

Museum in Port Townsend, Washington
wikipedia / Joe Mabel / CC BY-SA 3.0

Museum in Port Townsend, Washington. Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum is a military museum located at Fort Worden State Park on Puget Sound, in the State of Washington. The museum occupies part of Building 201, a former barracks at Fort Worden.[1]

Address: 200 Battery Way, Building 201, Port Townsend

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Fort Worden

State park in Jefferson County, Washington
wikipedia / Barek / CC BY-SA 3.0

State park in Jefferson County, Washington. Fort Worden Historical State Park is located in Port Townsend, Washington, on 433 acres originally known as Fort Worden, a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps base constructed to protect Puget Sound from invasion by sea. Fort Worden was named after U.S. Navy Rear Admiral John Lorimer Worden, commander of USS Monitor during the famous Battle of Hampton Roads during the American Civil War.

Constructed between 1898 and 1920, Fort Worden was one of the largest Endicott Period (1890-1910) forts to be built and a rare example of a post built according to the precepts of the Endicott Board on land not already occupied by an existing fortification. It was located within sight of a potential (if unlikely) enemy fortification, a British Royal Navy installation on Vancouver Island in Canada. The fort was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.[2]

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St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Episcopal church in Port Townsend, Washington
wikipedia / Adbar / CC BY-SA 3.0

Episcopal church in Port Townsend, Washington. The St. Paul's Episcopal Church is a Gothic Revival church in Port Townsend, Washington. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. It is included in Port Townsend Historic District which was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977.[3]

Address: 1020 Jefferson St, 98368-6618 Port Townsend

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United States Post Office – Port Townsend Main

United States Post Office – Port Townsend Main
wikipedia / Murderbike / Public Domain

United States Post Office – Port Townsend Main is a Richardsonian Romanesque building completed in 1893 on a bluff above Port Townsend's waterfront. It was intended to serve as a Federal building that would include a customhouse serving Port Townsend's incipient role in world trade. It was locally reported to be a very fine building for the Northwest, and even in fact that "'for that matter, size considered there is nothing better in the United States.'" But by its completion there was deeper disappointment in Port Townsend about the city not becoming the trade center that it had hoped to become.

Architects M.E. Bell and W.J. Edbrooke have association in designing and/or supervising roles. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

U.S. Congress appropriated $9,000 to purchase its land in March 1885. Construction of its basement began in 1889. It was completed in February 1893. This period spanned the time during which Port Townsend hoped to beat out Tacoma and Seattle to become the major port city on Puget Sound. Construction of this customhouse was part of furthering that goal. However the hopes foundered, with a major setback being the November 1890 failure of the bank financing construction of a railroad from Portland to Port Townsend.[4]

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Rothschild House

Museum in Port Townsend, Washington
wikipedia / Public Domain

Museum in Port Townsend, Washington. The Rothschild House is a house in Port Townsend, Washington. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. It is included in Port Townsend Historic District which was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977. It was built by D. C. H. Rothschild.

The house is managed by the Jefferson County Historical Society as a historic house museum.[5]

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Port Townsend Marine Science Center

Port Townsend Marine Science Center
facebook / PortTownsendMarineScienceCenter / CC BY-SA 3.0

Science museum, Museum, Aquarium, Park, Zoo

Address: Fort Worden State Park, 98368 Port Townsend

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Marrowstone Point Light

Lighthouse in Marrowstone, Washington
wikipedia / Dave1215 / CC BY 3.0

Lighthouse in Marrowstone, Washington. The Marrowstone Point Light is an active navigational aid overlooking Admiralty Inlet at the northern tip of Marrowstone Island, Jefferson County, Washington, in the United States. It lies adjacent to but is not part of Fort Flagler State Park; it may be viewed from the park's beach but is not open to the public.[6]

Address: Marrowstone Pt, Port Townsend

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Port Townsend Historic District

Port Townsend Historic District
wikipedia / Wendy Cutler / CC BY 2.0

The Port Townsend Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing a significant portion of the waterfront and downtown area of Port Townsend, Washington. This area has many well-preserved late 19th-century buildings, owing to a building boom and crash in the 1880s. The result is one of the finest examples of a late 19th-century port town on the west coast. The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.[7]

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Port Townsend First Baptist Church

Baptist church in Port Townsend, Washington
wikipedia / Adbar / CC BY-SA 3.0

Baptist church in Port Townsend, Washington

Address: 1202 Lawrence St, 98368-6527 Port Townsend

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Wheel-In Motor Movie

Wheel-In Motor Movie
facebook / WheelInMotorMovie / CC BY-SA 3.0

Concerts and shows, Cinema, Theater

Address: 210 Theatre Rd, 98368-9789 Port Townsend

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American Legion

American Legion
facebook / American-Legion-Marvin-G-Shields-Memorial-Post-26-16885868979182 / CC BY-SA 3.0

Memorial

Address: 209 Monroe St, Port Townsend

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