Ralph Munro discusses Port Blakely Harbor on Bainbridge Island. This tranquil little harbor once housed the largest sawmill in the world. It produced lumber that literally was used all over the globe. There was also a ship-making depot that shared the harbor. The loud sounds of the sawmill have long since been replaced by a beautiful, quiet park.
This beautiful little bay on Bainbridge Island is called Port Blakely Harbor.
It was once the site of the biggest sawmill in the world.
It’s a deep-water harbor and had as many as 14 sailing ships in here to load lumber that went to every possible location around our globe.
There was huge timber around Puget Sound and they brought it into this harbor in log booms. And then ran the logs through the mill. They were massive.
My dad told me that he could hear the logs going through the mill four miles away. The whine of the saws was that loud.
This produced a product that the locals used to call Port Blakely toothpicks. They were beams as big as 24 inches by 24 inches, some of them 90 or 100 feet long.
That’s a different world than we live in.
The timber was huge. They went in the mines in Montana and Idaho. There’s one that’s been brought back and is used here on Bainbridge Island.
As the years went by, the mill deteriorated, eventually burned was closed down. Today it’s just a beautiful spot. And it’s truly one of my favorite places.
TVW is local programming offering coverage of Washington State government, politics and public policy. TVW also offers “My Favorite Places” with Ralph Munro, former Secretary of State. In these video diaries, Munro traveled through some of Washington’s most iconic and interesting places. To view the original video of Ralph Munro’s program about Port Blakely Harbor, click this link: My Favorite Places: Port Blakely Harbor – TVW. Othervideos of Ralph Munro’s favorite places can be viewed here: My Favorite Places.
Planning a visit to Bainbridge Island? In addition to enjoying the shops and restaurants in the quaint downtown, here are some suggestions offered by Visit Bainbridge Island:
