Port Townsend is one of three cities nationwide to be on the National Register of Historic Places due to its large number of Victorian houses and buildings built in the late 1800s. According to information online, the city declined in the early 1900s when a proposed railway line did not come through as expected which meant the city could not develop and expand its shipping port. Without that, the population slowly declined even after a paper mill was built in the 1920s. Folks just disappeared leaving all the buildings to slowly start to decay.
In the 1970s retirees and folks anxious to be away from the larger cities started buying the beautiful old homes and restoring them. Today, many have been converted to bed and breakfasts and restored to their old glory. Downtown has come back to life with a variety of shops in buildings that have been cleaned up and repainted to highlight their architectural details. The city offers a driving tour with seagulls painted on the street to follow, although the streets are narrow and the parking is all on-street parallel parking; delivery trucks straddle the median to drop off packages. For any one with a large vehicle or a RV, the city offers a park & ride lot on the east end of town with a shuttle service-it's located at the Safeway shopping center entrance. There is also a walking tour that highlights many of the more elaborate buildings and homes. If you enjoy Victorian style architecture, this is definitely a town to see.
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