I was bumbling through the county’s public records website the other day when an old plat map from 1890 caught my attention.

The plat was for a Kitsap County city called Port Washington: A city that doesn’t exist.

I was immediately fascinated (my editors might say “sidetracked”) by this mystery city. From a glance, it was clear the backers of this town had big ambitions.

The sheer number of lots seemed astounding. The plat showed several hundred tiny parcels squeezed into a 130-acre waterfront property. It was the kind of urban density that would make a modern planner proud.  Continue reading →