Port Ludlow

History

The United States Exploring Expedition, under Charles Wilkes, entered Puget Sound in 1841. Wilkes bestowed many patriotically American place names; at the time the sovereignty of the Oregon Country was yet to be resolved between Britain and the United States. Many of Wilkes's names commemorated American heroes and victories during the War of 1812. Port Ludlow was one of these, honoring Augustus Ludlow, a War of 1812 American naval hero. Early explorers of the Pacific Northwest often named sheltered inlets with names beginning with "Port". Communities that subsequently developed often adopted their inlet's name. Today Port Ludlow is both the name of the inlet and the community on its shore. To avoid confusion the inlet is sometimes called Port Ludlow Bay. The first shipments of timber from the Puget Sound to San Francisco in 1851 stimulated interest in the business potential of building sawmills on Puget Sound. John R. Thorndike and W. P. Sayward sailed to Puget Sound in 1852 and found the environs of Port Ludlow promising. Thorndike filed a timber claim of , and they started building a mill there. The initial mill housed two sash saws capable of producing of lumber daily. The trees along the banks of the bay were logged first, and then oxen and horses were used to bring more distant logs to the mill. The mill was leased in 1858 to the Amos & Phinney Company, of which A. Phinney became the resident manager. The U.S. Federal Census of 1860 designated Port Ludlow as one of the three enumeration districts in Jefferson County, Washington Territory. The census tally portrays the make-up of a young logging and sawmill community: Of the 124 people counted, 117 (94%) were adults between the ages of 20 and 50, and the remaining 7 were children. Of the adult population 112…

Geography

Port Ludlow, the community, is located on the eastern edge of Jefferson County on the northwest side of Port Ludlow, the waterbody. The original settlement of Port Ludlow is in the northern part of the CDP, with new development reaching south of the Port Ludlow inlet. The CDP also includes the communities of Mats Mats (to the north), Swansonville (to the northwest), and Beaver Valley (on the western edge). Washington State Route 19 forms the western edge of the CDP, leading north to Port Hadlock and having its southern terminus at Washington State Route 104 at the southwest corner of the Port Ludlow CDP. SR 104 forms the southern edge of the CDP and leads east across Hood Canal to Port Gamble and west the same distance to U.S. Route 101. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Port Ludlow CDP has a total area of , of which , or 18.28%, are water.

Most-observed species

• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  27,472
• Spotted Towhee

  Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827 · Aves
  24,457
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  23,581
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  22,036
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  19,554
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  19,495
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  17,276
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  16,659

Most recent

• M 2.51 — 2026-08-09
  11 km SSW of River Road, Washington
• M 3.8 — 2026-07-02
  2 km E of Oak Harbor, Washington
• M 2.5 — 2026-06-26
  11 km E of Carnation, Washington
• M 2.87 — 2026-06-08
  2 km ESE of Oak Harbor, Washington
• M 2.84 — 2026-05-27
  4 km W of Wauna, Washington
• M 2.54 — 2026-05-07
  4 km WSW of Concrete, Washington