During the San Francisco Gold Rush, A.J. Pope and William Talbot made the journey from East Machias, Maine in search of their fortune. Upon arriving in San Francisco, they quickly recognized the need for lumber in the rapidly growing city. Capitalizing on this need, they headed to the Pacific Northwest where the lumber grows in abundance.
In 1853, they established the town of Port Gamble, WA by opening a timber mill there. Though the mill has been gone since 1996, Port Gamble is still owned and operated by Pope Resources, making it the only remaining company owned town in Puget Sound.
In the mid 1800s, Pope and Talbot acquired large amounts of timberland all over what would later become Washington State. In 1869 and 1872, three connecting parcels of land in Gig Harbor, equaling more than 1,000 acres, were patented to Pope and Talbot by President Ulysses S. Grant. Olympic Property Group, a subsidiary of today's Pope Resources, is developing 320 acres of this land into what is now known as the Harbor Hill master plan development.
For more information regarding the history of Pope Resources visit the Port Gamble Historic Museum.
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