The best source I found for Port Blakley history is Andrew Price's book “Port Blakely, The Community Captain Renton Built”. It is a charming and comprehensive history of Captain Renton and the town that arose from his efforts to carve out a living from the then-wild Northwest in the 1850s. The book was just recently re-published by the Bainbridge Island Historical Society and may be available through the Eagle Harbor Book Company on Bainbridge Island. (I recently checked the BIHS products page and didn't see it available there).

Why Port Blakley?

I love history. More specifically, I love hearing the stories of all kinds of people, extraordinary and “ordinary” (no such thing in my book) alike. Having just moved to Bainbridge Island three years ago I have come to appreciate the history of this little island.

If you read the history of the Port Blakely Mill it becomes clear that Captain Renton was one of the most successful early settlers in the Northwest. He built what at the time was the largest lumber mill in the world, providing lumber for the West coast and beyond. This included some of the finest homes in San Fransisco, as well as pilings for the many piers on its waterfront.

The island community that grew from his vision became quite the bustling little town with visitors (and workers) from all over the world. It boasted an elegant Hotel and attracted the Hall Brothers who, in their shipyard just east of the mill on the same harbor, built many of the Lumber Schooners that would carry the mill's products up and down the west coast.

It was a time when the world was changing and the age of sail was coming slowly to an end. The clock was ticking on the days of harbors packed with tall ships and Port Blakely would vanish with the age.

I loved poring over the many vintage photos wishing I could travel back to that time to hear the steam engines at the mill thrumming and the sounds of the saws, to smell the fresh cut timber and feel the thick planks of the dock under my feet as I look up into the tangle of rigging and sails.

Every now and then I go down to Port Blakely and scrounge around the old pilings at low tide picking up shoe leather, pottery shards and metal spikes, pretty much all that's left of the old mills. Having spent so much time researching the town and rebuilding it in 3D it 's very easy to see it in my mind's eye. And of course, that's exactly what I'm trying to do, so that you'll be able to as well!