The Jefferson County Courthouse
majestically overlooks Port Townsend
Bay and the entrance to Admiralty Inlet.
Approved for construction in 1890 by the
Jefferson County Commissioners, the
Romanesque style courthouse, brainchild
of Seattle architect W. A. Ritchie, was let
out to contractors at an estimated cost of
$150,000.00. Reportedly $117,600.00 was
designated for the building and
$17,287.00 for the jail in 1892, which was
located in the South half of the basement.
John Rigby, Bldg. Contractor, and C. P.
Wakeman, Supt. of Construction, were
the contractors.
While the deep red, smooth bricks were
shipped in from St. Louis, some 786 tons
of sandstone were brought in from
Alaska. Corridor walls were accented
with wainscoting and in the two main
halls geometrically patterned quarry tile
floors were laid.
The counters in the offices were modular
units of oak that could be reassembled
and all were faced with rose marble.
The courtroom, housed on the second
floor, still displays panels of intricately
carved solid oak.
The addition of automatic openers on the
main entrance doors enabled the removal
of an attached “woodshed” put up years
before as a windbreak. The homely
structure was known locally as the
“Outhouse”, and with its removal the
beautiful arched entry could again be viewed.
Rising stoically over Port Townsend is the
Jefferson County Courthouse Clock
Tower, which was installed in the newly
completed building in November 1892.
Although the original plans drawn by W.
A. Ritchie called for a tower 140 feet tall,
according to an article in an issue of the
Port Townsend Morning Leader, the
tower measures only 124 feet, 4 inches.
No explanation can be found for the
discrepancy.
Legend has it that the bell was pulled
across the plains and the clock
mechanism was shipped around the
Horn. The bell was reportedly drawn into
position by a white horse.
The E. Howard Watch & Clock Company
of Boston, Mass. built both the bell and
the clock mechanism of solid brass in
1891.
Illumination of the clock was made
possible in 1912 when the courthouse
received electrical power. The addition of
electricity also eased the chore of
winding the huge clock, which previously
required two men half a day and was
wound by hand. The task demanded a
climb up the 154 steps from the basement
to the tower, and since 1914, the winding
has been performed each Friday. From
1963 to 1981 Custodian Tom Heinbaugh
climbed the steps to the tower. Presently,
lead custodian Patrick Whiteman maintains the
tradition. However, with the use of the
elevator (installed in 1970) and an electric
winch, the process of winding now takes
about 15 minutes.
On the North and East faces of the nine foot
clock the original cedar hands still
mark time. However, in 1954 with the aid
of a boson’s chair, Dale Smith of Port
Townsend replaced the 62-year-old
severely weathered South and West
hands.
The original hammer, produced by the
former Irondale Iron Works, has been
replaced by a new one manufactured
locally by Jerry Pohl and Russell Jaqua.
The striking area on the bell has worn
down only slightly more than ¼ inch in all
these years. In 1975 the clock was
disassembled and taken to Bellevue for
complete rejuvenation and in 1982 the
clock bushings also were replaced by a
local machine shop while being overseen
by clock smith Bill Sperry.
The clock operates on the same principle
as a cuckoo clock. The weights (250-
pound boxes of brick and stone) drop
slowly from the tower to the basement,
enclosed in a cedar shaft. Steel airplane
cables that support the weights must be
replaced every 3 to 4 years as they
become frayed.
A highlight of past Courthouse tours was
to be present in the tower as the hammer
struck the hour, however due to
remodeling in the Prosecutor’s office and
safety concerns, tours to the clock tower
are regrettably precluded at this time.