Poulsbo is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located along Liberty Bay. 10,927 people are estimated to live there as of 2018.
History[]
Early Times[]
The Suquamish people inhabited the area at the north end of Liberty Bay for millennia and had several names for modern-day Poulsbo; one of those names, tcu-tcu-lats, means "place of the maples". The Suquamish occupied villages on the Liberty Bay shoreline — among them, ho-CHEEB — for at least 5,000 years, hunted in local forests and floodplains, fished in bays and streams here, and harvested shellfish along the shoreline.
After the signing of the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855, most Suquamish people here relocated to the Port Madison Indian Reservation, although the Suquamish Tribe reserved — and to this day exercises — certain cultural and natural resource rights in its historical territory, including Poulsbo.
Founding - Present[]
Founded by Norwegian immigrant Jørgen Eliason in the 1880s, Poulsbo was settled in its early years by a large number of Norwegian and other Scandinavian immigrants because of its similarities to their native countries. In 1886, I.B. Moe, one of the early Norwegian settlers, suggested that the community should have a post office. Moe suggested the town be named "Paulsbo" (which translates as "Paul's place"), after the village in Halden, Norway, where Moe spent his early years. The community's petition for a post office was granted and Moe became the first postmaster, but authorities in Washington, D.C. misspelled the town's name, likely misreading Moe's handwriting, and the community became known as "Poulsbo" thereafter. Poulsbo was incorporated on December 18, 1907.
Until World War II, many Poulsbo residents retained Norwegian as a primary language. However, during World War II, the military constructed about 300 residential units to provide housing for workers at the nearby Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton. The population of Poulsbo almost tripled over three years, and the diversification of the population led to the dominance of English as the primary language.
On October 22, 1975, King Olav V of Norway visited Poulsbo as part of the celebration of 150 years of Norwegian immigration to the United States. His son, Harald, visited 20 years later.
Geography[]
Poulsbo is located in northern Kitsap County at the north end of Liberty Bay, a sheltered arm of Puget Sound. Washington State Route 305 has its northwestern terminus in the northern part of the town at State Route 3 and leads southeast 13 miles (21 km) to the ferry docks at Bainbridge Island. SR 3 leads north 9 miles (14 km) to Port Gamble and south 16 miles (26 km) to the western part of Bremerton.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Poulsbo has a total area of 5.27 square miles (13.65 km2), of which 4.67 square miles (12.10 km2) are land and 0.60 square miles (1.55 km2), or 11.43%, are water.
The coordinates are 47°44′21″N 122°38′21″W (47.739137, -122.639278).
Climate[]
Summer temperatures range from the mid to high 70s with lows in the low to mid 50s. Winter temperatures are mid 40s and lows are mid 30s on average. Precipitation is heaviest in the winter months with an average yearly rainfall of 56.67 inches.