Name: Port Gamble, Washington (Teekalet)
Class: F6
GPS: Latitude: 47.8542606, Longitude: -122.5837581
Directions: From I-5 in Tacoma Washington, take the Highway 16 exit towards Bremerton. At the town of Gorst, Highway 16 meets Highway 3. Port Gamble is 25 miles past further.

Description:
Port Gamble, Washington is most famous for the fact that at it’s closing, the Pope & Talbot saw mill was 142 years old. When it closed in 1995, it was the longest operating sawmill in the country. This is still celebrated every year on Fourth of July weekend at Old Mill Days. The activities include Fireworks, a Car Show, Chainsaw Carving, Ice Carving and a LumberJack show.

In 1836 the United States Congress authorized an exploration and scientific expedition to the Pacific Northwest. It was finally able to get underway under command of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes of the US Navy in 1838. After a series of adventures in the Antarctic Ocean, New Zealand, and Fiji, the Wilkes Expedition reached the Pacific Northwest in 1841. Once of the locations they explored and named was present day Gamble Bay.

A small community named Teekalet, meaning “brightness of the noonday sun,” in the local Native language, was here. In 1853 Captain William C. Talbot and Cyrus Walker scouted the Pacific Northwest Coast and decided to found a company town at Teekalet. The town was constructed to resemble East Machias, Maine. The Maple Trees that line present day Main Street were brought from there. A mill was founded that year and lumber was shipped down to San Francisco to meet the the cities growing needs.

Raiding parties of Natives from British and Russian territories enslaved local natives. The USS Massachusetts was dispatched in 1856 to resolve the issue. After negotiations to release the captives failed, a landing party attempted to rescue them. 26 Natives and one sailor were killed.

More Information:
Ghost Towns of Pacific Northwest by Philip Varney