Port Ludlow :: a Master Planned Resort Community for All Ages :: Birding, Boating, Golfing, Hiking, & More

Port Ludlow Bay became a logging and shipbuilding center in the mid 1800s.

In the 1840s, Captain Vancouver replaced the indian name of Port Ludlow Bay to honor Augustus C. Ludlow, an officer in the U.S. Navy during the war of 1812. The custom in the Pacific Northwest was to call the towns by the same name as the bay, thus we also have Port Gamble, Port Townsend, and Port Angeles in this area.

The gold rush in the Sacramento area and the repeated fires in San Francisco created a thirsty market for lumber in California. Milled wood for building homes and other structures was actually imported from as far away as Maine; a long and risky journey for freight.

The rugged Northern California coast made logging the redwoods difficult and potentially unprofitable so the lumber business community turned their eyes northward, to Puget Sound.

The calm inland seas along with the tall dense stands of fir, hemlock, and cedar were very attractive to developers. Although there were several lumbermills in Puget Sound before Pope and Talbot arrived, they quickly established themselves as one of the prominent producers.