Kathy Larkin Real Estate in Port Ludlow, Washington

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A Bit of Port Ludlow History

Explorer Charles Wilkes named Port Ludlow in honor of Angustus C. Ludlow, a sailor killed in battle.

William F. Sayward built a steam sawmill on Port Ludlow's bay, in 1852, on land belonging to a man named Thorndyke.

At the same time, in San Francisco, Andrew J. Pope and William C. Talbot formed a partnership. Seeking a site for a sawmill, the pair first stopped in Discovery Bay, then at Port Ludlow. Finding Port Ludlow already equipped with a mill, the pair and their partners set up operations in Port Gamble.

In 1878, Pope and Talbot purchased the Port Ludlow mill for $64,000. During the 1870s, Port Ludlow was known more for its fine ship building, than as a mill town. The "town" was but a store, a run down saw mill, a hotel, cookhouse, shipyard and a few cabins.

The rebuilt mill thrived, and the town swelled to 500 inhabitants. Most of the men in Port Ludlow — and up on Forest Hill, in "Swansonville" — worked at the Port Ludlow mill. A number of the longshoremen lived in shacks across the bay. Many of the older houses in Swansonville have "Puget Mill Company" stamped on the lumber.

In 1925, Pope and Talbot's heirs sold the mill. In 1935, the mill closed for good; the operation was dismantled; and foreclosure proceedings were soon begun. Within a few years, Pope and Talbot Inc. was formed.

In the early 1960s, the Hood Canal Bridge was built, making the Olympic Peninsula easily accessible.

Today Port Ludlow boasts a 40ish-year-old residential/retirement/resort community, known for its championship golf course, a 300-slip marina and tony resort. More and more businesses continue to join the more than 1,000 home sites, hundreds of homes and a variety of condominiums scattered throughout the hills.

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