Port Townsend's Downtown Commercial Buildings
Port Townsend applied for and recieved a Post Office in September of 1852. A few months later Jefferson County was created and since Port Townsend was the only town with a Post Office, it was named the county seat. The Puget Sound Customs District had been created in February of 1851 with Olympia as the port of entry. In August of 1852 customs collector Simpson Moses decided that Port Townsend to be a better location as the port of entry.
The customs headquarters gave Port Townsend an economic advantage and became a key distribution point. The Port and shipping business gave Port Townsend a base income and laid a foundation that other enterprises would be built around. many of Port Townsend's early developers were successful merchant seamen from elsewhere in the country.
Port Townsend survived the national depression of the 1870's with the customs business it had lobbied away from other cities including Port Angeles.
By the 1880s there was renewed prosperity and the large Bartlett Building was constructed in Port Townsend in 1881. The transcontinental railroad reached tacoma in 1883 and its promise of opening Puget Sound to increased business started a land development boom.