Jefferson County

Founded by optimistic speculators with dreams of commercial empires that never materialized, Jefferson County is located on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. It stretches from spectacular Pacific Ocean beaches on the west and the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the north to the forested banks of the Hood Canal on the east. Created by the Oregon territorial legislature in 1852 and redefined by the Washington Territorial Legislature in 1877, it was named for Pres. Thomas Jefferson. Scenic Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest occupy 60 percent of the county, and important industries in the region have included logging, pulp and paper, fishing, dairy farming, boatbuilding, and other marine-related businesses. Today the county has been discovered by artists, writers, poets, retirees, and tourists drawn to its unmatched scenery, mild weather, outstanding recreational opportunities, and the absence of urban stress.

The Jefferson County Historical Society (JCHS) was founded in 1879 and incorporated in 1951 with a mission "to actively discover, collect, preserve, and promote the heritage of Jefferson County in the State of Washington." The society conducts county-wide programs and operates the Jefferson County Historical Museum, the Rothschild House Museum, and the JCHS Research Center. The images selected for this volume come from the society's remarkable collection of over 20,000 historic photographs.